The Irregular Opposition
by SarcasticBiscuit
Summary: [Novel] All her life, Rose has known she's going to play professional quidditch, and she's not afraid to step on a few toes to get there. But when a competition is announced that could launch her quidditch career for real, things are going to get dirty. Undercover scouts, blackmail, gambling and uneasy alliances. Rose isn't going to let anything stop her...Not even falling in love.
1. Chapter 1

The Irregular Opposition

.

 _Chapter One..._

 _._

 **23rd March (Fifth Year)**

 **Professor Marchling's Office**

 **09oo hours**

...

'Miss Weasley, I'm still not sure you understand, less than one percent of Quidditch players make it to international standard and while undoubtedly you take your quidditch very seriously, I find it difficult to understand why you won't accept that quidditch, though in many ways an excellent pastime, is not a career someone of your intellectual capacity should be striving for.'

Professor Marchling steepled her fingers and peered across her cluttered desk to where Rose Weasley was sat, visibly trying not to grind her teeth.

 _Seriously? Seriously!_ Rose tried very hard not to clench her fists as she stared defiantly back at her least favourite teacher. _How dare she call quidditch a pastime! Quidditch is- is-_

Well, Rose knew that quidditch, to her at least, as well as to any other sane mortal, the best thing in the entire world. She didn't understand why Professor Marchling couldn't see this. It was as obvious as, well, the nose on her face.

'Miss Weasley, you are on track to score twelve Outstandings in your Ordinary Wizarding Levels, a set of results that will guarantee you top grade N.E.W.T.s and allow you to go onto a career in any field you choose. Don't throw your education away on a sport that is famous for the short lifespan in the public eye of their players.'

Professor Marchling eyed her student properly for the first time, noticing the whitening around the girl's knuckles and sighed.

"I don't mean to be unkind Rose," She said, straightening a pile of parchment on her desk. "But these career sessions are supposed to prepare you for what your life is going to be like once you enter your Sixth and Seventh years and also once you leave Hogwarts and I hate to see a girl as gifted as you throwing away your career. Quidditch at Hogwarts is very different to inter-league quidditch and this is what I don't think you realise-"

'Why do you think that I don't realise that?'

Rose eyed her teacher, swallowing down her temper. In the back of her mind, that logical place where she hardly ever went, Rose knew that the professor only had her best interests at heart. But while Rose's adoration of the sport was legendary, her stubbornness was equally well known.

'Well, because-' Professor Marchling was floundering slightly, suddenly unsure. 'You need experience, dedication-'

'Experience?' Rose actually blanched- did this person know nothing? 'You think I lack _experience?'_

Again, in the back of her head, that scarcely trod minefield of logic and reason, Rose knew she was being rude and she felt a twinge of guilt for the teacher who, after all, was only trying to do her job. Still, Rose felt compelled to set her right.

'I have played the position of beater on the Gryffindor quidditch team since the age of twelve, the youngest player to do so in over fifty years and the youngest girl to do so in over two hundred years! I made Captain last year, over the head of three other very qualified candidates including a seventh year making me the youngest captain _ever_ had by, not just the Gryffindor team, but any house team at Hogwarts.'

Rose tried to take a deep breath, to stop her runaway tongue from spewing out more facts and statistics but the slightly shell-shocked expression on the professor's face was incentive enough to continue.

'I have attended the National Junior Quidditch League summer camp every year since the age of seven, and, following several weeks of strenuous tryouts, secured a place at the International Quidditch Cup Junior Divisions training camp last summer in Russia as one of only two placements from the United Kingdom. Just this Christmas holiday, I spent two weeks working as an intern in the Department of Magical Games and Sport under the tutorage of retired Puddlemere captain Oliver Wood on a completely voluntary basis simply to gain the experience of working in a professional sporting environment.'

'So you see,' Rose sucked in a much needed breath. 'I am quite aware of how difficult it will be to make Quidditch as a career, but you know what? I'm going to try anyway.'

Professor Marchling absently tapped her chin, peering down at the defiant girl in front of her. Then, making up her mind, she pulled a clean sheet of parchment towards and dipped a quill into the inkwell.

'Obviously Hogwarts is not a quidditch training school and so, if you intend to stay here to complete your N.E.W.T.s which I understand from your mother that you do-'

Rose shifted uncomfortable in her seat, remembering the blazing row she and her mother had had on the night before she left to return to Hogwarts at the end of the Christmas holidays.

'You will need to complete at least the requirement of subjects.' Professor Marchling continued. 'Judging by your expected O.W.L. results I would usually be urging you into taking at least six or seven N.E.W.T.s but I sense that is not going to be favourably received.'

Professor Marchling bestowed a rare smile her brightest student.

'Hence, I would suggest that five N.E.W.T.s would allow you sufficient time to focus on your quidditch while also being the minimum requirement for most Ministry based careers. I know that the more practical subjects have always been your favourite so I suggest Defence Against the Dark Arts, as well as Herbology and Charms. Have you any preference regarding these choices?'

'I want to continue Care of Magical Creatures', Rose answered with a grin. 'That way I can always go to Romania and work on the dragon enclosure there with Uncle Charlie.'

While Professor Marchling tried to figure out if she was joking or not, Rose continued: 'And potions as well as Professor Zabini has promised that I can go off syllabus if I want to and anyway, Scorp obviously wouldn't be able to cope without me in potions.'

Professor Marchling made a final note on her parchment then nodded to Rose who stood, sensing the non-verbal dismissal. Picking up her bag she was about to retrace her steps across the room to the door when Professor Marchling spoke.

'You know Rose, as much as I disagree with the choice you have made, I am quite happy to help you in any way possible. As your head of house, I have a lot of influence with other members of the staff and would be happy to speak to Coach Hendrix about the possibility of you assisting with teaching the first years in their flying classes if you would like me to.'

Rose felt an unexpected smile form on her face as she gratefully spoke her thanks, before turning on her heel and walking out of the office.

* * *

A.N.

Hello my darlings, a new story here (don't worry, others are still ongoing.) Hopefully, as you can tell, this story is going to be about QUIDDITCH, the best sport in the universe. I'm the sort of gal who likes to through in plot bunnies, so keep an eye for little bits of interest.

Love and hugs, and don't forget to review!

A.A.A.


	2. Chapter 2

Hello there, thank you for checking out my story! I was hoping there'd be a little more interest in this story, but if you're reading this _Thank You._

I have the first six chapters of this story already written, so if you want me to carry on with this please drop me a review, I need a little encouragement now and then.

Love and hugs

A.A.A.

* * *

Chapter Two...

(Eighteen months later)

.

 **August 31st (The summer before Seventh Year)**

 **Somewhere on the outskirts of Falmouth**

 **12oo hours**

 **.**

"Come on you stupid piece of junk," Rose growled as she ground the gear stick into reverse and began to back into the driveway of her three story home.

The engine whined in protest and Rose realised she hadn't released the brake. She did so and the rusty mini lurched backwards, narrowly missing the low brick wall that ran along the outskirts of the garden. Panicking, she slammed on the break and the car juddered to a halt. The engine, in protest most likely, squeaked and stopped.

"And you've stalled." Scorpius deadpanned from the passenger seat.

"Yes, _thank you_ Sherlock," Rose said tetchily, turning the key and firing the ignition. She squinted into her mirror and managed on this second attempt to wrangle the mini into its designated place on the drive, then put on the handbrake with a sigh of relief.

"How did you manage to pass your test again?" Scorpius asked, displaying his knack for not picking up subtle hints.

"I'm fine at everything else," Rose sighed. "And let's face it, my dad only passed his test because he confunded the examiner and I'm a much better driver than he is."

"You confunded your examiner?"

Rose shifted uncomfortably. "Well, confunded is a strong word. I may have put a sensory charm on the bumper."

Scorpius grinned and poked her in the side, "You cheated."

"I did not! I just helped myself a little."

He poked her again and she squirmed away laughing. "Hey! Don't, that really tickles!"

"Oh yeah?" He undid his seatbelt and launched himself on top of his friend, tickling her as her screams echoed around the small interior as she tried to protect herself.

And then, all at once, Rose came to her senses.

He was so close to her, hands clasped around her wrists and his face simply inches from her own and for some crazy reason Rose suddenly felt as though it would be the most natural thing in the world to reach forward and kiss him.

She pulled away, trying not to blush.

They had always been friends, she and Scorpius, ever since they were kids. They were even on the same quidditch team for goodness sake. A strictly platonic quidditch team. So the thought of kissing her best friend was somehow intriguing and weird all at the same time.

Apparently not sensing her sudden confusion, Scorpius slid out of the car and headed towards the house. Coming to her senses, Rose slid out after him.

"Oi, dung-brains! Aren't you going to help me with the shopping bags?"

"Nope!"

"Idiot." She muttered, but there was a smile on her face as she levitated the bags out of her car and followed him into the house.

 **.**

 **August 31st**

 **The Lodge**

 **19oo hours**

 **.**

"How are we getting to King's Cross tomorrow?" Hugo asked between mouthfuls of stew. He slurped slightly and a brown stain appeared on his checked shirt.

Hermione Granger-Weasley cast her son a half amused-half disgusted look and flicked her wand at his top.

Now stainless, Hugo continued. "It's just if we're driving I want to go in Mum's car because I fear for my life in Dad's and Rose's doesn't have enough legroom for a centipede."

"Hey!" Rose cried, as her father spluttered through a mouthful of potato. "I'll have you know that the extension charm I put on that car works perfectly-"

"Rose, just because I managed to get permission from the Ministry for you to cast that charm, I don't want you telling everyone," Her mother remonstrated, "You know extension charms are carefully monitored and-"

"So how are we getting to King's Cross tomorrow?" Hugo cut across his mother's lecture.

"Portkey." Ron said, picking up his water glass. "I've arranged that Hermione will send the luggage separately and we'll be taking an old boot to the designated arrivals hall."

"Separately?" Rose frowned, "But mum, I need to keep my broom with me - It's the latest model and if it get's broken or stolen everything will be ruined!"

Scorpius elbowed Rose in the side as she drew breath to continue.

"Rosie," Hermione said with forced patience. "Nothing will happen to your quidditch things, I promise you."

Rose sagged back down in her seat and stared at the gravy on her plate. Underneath the table her feet were tapping with restless energy. In truth, she was longing to be back on the pitch, shouting drills and practising plays. While the Lodge had a undersized pitch out in the field that they owned, it wasn't the same as being on the pitch at Hogwarts; the crowds in the stands, the hoops glinting in the sunlight or rain depending on the time of year. It was where Rose felt she was truly home.

As Hermione levitated the plates into the sink and Hugo brought through the apple pie, Scorpius turned to his friend and asked under his breath: "When are you holding tryouts?"

Rose's mouth twisted up as she considered. "I've been planning nearly all summer how the team's going to look this year. I mean we need over half a new team and I'm pretty worried about how people are going to integrate with us now that the others have left."

"So what do we need." Scorpius counted them off on his fingers. "Two chasers. I don't think that will be too bad. I mean Lily works well with absolutely everyone."

"A new beater for me." Rose frowned. "It'll be strange playing with anyone but Roxy. I mean, we've been a team since I joined way back in second year. Oh and you'll carry on playing seeker obviously."

"And a keeper," Scorpius finished. "And if you even consider McClaggen I'm quitting the team, you know I can't stand him."

"Oh he's not that bad, a bit full of himself-"

"A _bit_?"

"-And sure he can be a bit immature, which is why I broke up with him incidentally, but even you have to admit, he's a damn fine keeper. And now that Evelyn Wood's left, you can guarantee he'll be trying out."

"Well, if he does make it onto the team least you guys won't be getting back together." Scorpius grinned.

"True. Rule Number Seven and all that."

"I hope Rosie," Hermione had sat down while the two friends had been engrossed in their quidditch talk. "That you're not going to let Quidditch get in the way of your studies this year. After all, you have N.E.W.T.s in eight months and your scores will affect your career prospects for the rest of your life."

Rose tried _very_ hard not to take her mother's words too personally. After all, this was the deal that they had struck at the end of her fifth year and she knew (stupid, logical part of her brain) that her mother wasn't deliberately preventing her daughter from going for her dreams out of any ill wishes on her part. It was simply that her mum wanted to have options after she left Hogwarts. Get five top grade N.E.W.T.s was all she asked for and Rose knew really, that she could get those Outstandings with both hands tied behind her back. But still, it annoyed her that her mother didn't seem to understand how much quidditch meant to Rose. Her father was pleased as punch when Rose said she wanted to play international quidditch for a living. Her mother? Not so much...

"Of course not Mum." She answered, forcing a smile and accepting the dish of apple pie Hermione has proffered. "Keep a balance and all that."

"Good girl." Her mum smiled at her daughter fondly, then passed a dish to Scorpius.

"Anyway, McClaggen and I are history so it won't affect me if he makes the team."

"You've said that every time you break up with the guy," Scorpius grinned round a mouthful of apple and pastry. "And you always get back together."

"Not this year. What with N.E.W.T.s and this new training programme I've been working on I figure no-one on the team will have time for dating. In fact," She grinned wickedly, "You might as well break up with Isabelle right now to save you the bother of doing it later."

"Ha ha, very funny. I'll have you know that me and Isabelle like our space and we both respect each other's hobbies and ambitions and that we have a routine-"

"Routine?" Rose spluttered. "How old are you? Sixty?"

"Isabelle is sweet-"

"Isabelle is the kindest, most lovely person in the world but at the age of seventeen you shouldn't already have settled into a routine!"

"Oh really?" Scorpius gestured with his spoon. "You're going to lecture me on routine? What about you and McClaggen?"

"What do you mean?" Rose honestly felt rather bemused. "I dump him whenever we get boring."

"You always get together at the beginning of the year when you want a distraction from your family and last a couple of months max before quidditch takes over and you dump him. You've done it three times already and I guarantee you'll do it again this year. And remember Jacob Stebbins? You dumped him last year because you said that you needed to focus on the Gryffindor-Ravenclaw match. Face it Rose. You're a quidditch-aholic."

"I am not. Take that back!"

"Rose, if you're going to have a private argument with Scorpius can you please not do it at the kitchen table where we all have to pretend we can't hear."

"Yes Daddy."

"So go and clear up the dinner things and we will move to the living room."

"I'll help Mr Weasley." Scorpius stood and began levitating glasses towards the sink.

Once her parents and brother had vacated the kitchen, Rose turned to Scorpius who was packing up leftovers. "Okay fine." She said grudgingly. "I love quidditch more than boys. Happy now?"

"Ecstatic."

Rose chucked Scorpius a glass and he caught it with one hand, sliding it away into the cupboard above his head.

"So relationships aside, have you any thoughts about the team?"

Rose paused, running through her internal playbook. "Well, obviously it's really difficult as I've only seen a few people play and they're all from first and second year when I've been helping Coach with flying lessons. But I've got my eye on a few people. That Erin from Lily's year looks like she has the right build for a chaser so I've made Lily promise to get her to tryout so we can see what she's like."

"There, we're done." Scorpius closed the cupboard door and the two left the kitchen, still discussing their possible new teammates.

"Are you packed for tomorrow?" Rose asked as they made their way up the staircase to the third floor where Hugo and Rose's rooms were located, as was the guest room that Scorpius was frequenting.

"Nope. Well," he amended, "My textbooks and cauldron are, and all the junk I bought in Diagon Alley last week. And your mum's put all my robes and stuff on my bed so I can dump all that in as well but apart from that all my other stuff and Dog's cage are littered around the house somewhere."

"Well you've done more than me," Rose opened the door to her bedroom and collapsed onto the bed beneath the far window. "All my quidditch stuff is ready to go but apart from that, nada."

"You need to clean out Tilly's cage more often." Scorpius drew back from the cage on Rose's desk and pulled a face. "No wonder she's always out hunting with Dog if that's what her cage smells like."

"Shut up Scorp."

He walked over to the bed and sat down beside her and again, Rose felt that strange, unexplainable feeling in her stomach as she stared at his skinny body.

He noticed her staring and smirked. "Like what you see Rosie Pose?"

"No, I was thinking you better put some weight on before the first game, or one hit from a bludger's going to take you out."

"I know, I was kidding Rose. To you I shall always be the scrawny boy you pushed into the lake on our very first night at Hogwarts."

Rose smiled at the memory.

"To be fair," She reasoned, "You did pull me in as well."

"I've never been so cold in my life." Scorpius smiled and then let himself flop back onto the bed, staring up at the stars painted across the midnight blue there.

Rose wondered if she ought to say something, but in the end she closed her mouth and let the silence build between them, trusting that it, like so much else, would never change.

* * *

A.N.

Hello my wonderful darlings

Additional Fun:

Look up Tilly Toke, the witch Rose's owl is named after. In 1993 a portrait of her was hung in Hogwarts so I reckon Rose probably stumbled across her at one time or another. She was awarded the Order of Merlin (first class) for saving a family of Muggles from a common welsh green dragon. I figure she'd be just the kind of person Rose would find fascinating!

.

What do you think? This fic has a backbone plot which is already mapped out inside my head (Spoilers! It's going to be GREAT!) so drop me a review to tell me what you think. I'm always interested to hear what people have to say and I will always answer!

Love and hugs my darlings and watch out for the update

A.A.A.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

 **September 1st (Seventh Year)**

 **The Hogwarts Express (Somewhere on the border between Carlisle and Dumfries)**

 **14oo hours**

 **.**

"Have a chocolate frog Rose." Albus made to chuck the purple and gold box towards his cousin but she shook her head.

"No thanks Al."

"Aw, come on Rosie," He wafted the enticing smell of chocolate under her nose. "When was the last time you ate chocolate, or sweets, or really anything even vaguely unhealthy?"

"I had pudding yesterday. Besides, chocolate won't help me maintain muscle."

"You're obsessed Rose." Scorpius grabbed the offending chocolate frog and opened the box, catching the frog mid leap with a reflex that Rose envied. "Is there anything you wouldn't choose quidditch over?"

"I-" Rose spluttered. "What is this? Gang up on Rose day? I put lots of things before quidditch."

"Like what?" Albus grinned, pulling a fizzing whizzbee out of its wrappings.

"Like school and relationships and my voluntary tutoring." Rose said smugly.

"Bull." Scorpius bit the head off his chocolate frog with surprising ferocity. "You dump whoever you're seeing the second the quidditch season starts. You hardly take any N.E.W.T.s because you're Professor Marchling's favourite and she really wants to see Gryffindor win the quidditch cup again; and your tutoring is helping younger kids to fly which you only do so you can put it on your résumé."

"I enjoy it as well, doesn't that count?" Rose was feeling decidedly badgered by the turn of the conversation.

"All we're saying," Piped up Jenny from her corner seat. "Is that it can't be healthy to spend all this time obsessing about one thing."

The compartment door slid open, sparing Rose any reply. The two figures in the doorway, Isabelle and her own ex-boyfriend Mack. Scorpius took a moment to scowl at Mack, before standing up and kissing Isabelle on the cheek.

"Scorpius, would you mind coming with me for a moment?" Isabelle looked uncommonly grave, her pretty heart-shaped face creasing into an expression that was both sadness and determination all at once. "I've got the prefect's meeting in a few minutes but I wanted to speak to you first."

"Of course." Scorpius took her hand and allowed her to lead him from the compartment. Albus let out a whistle.

...

 **Thirty minutes later, approaching Moffat**

 **...**

"Oh dear."

"What?" Rose looked up from Which Broomstick. Her cousin was staring through the glass of the compartment door at the deserted corridor beyond.

"Scorpius. I just saw him heading the other way down the corridor."

"You mean Isabelle's finally done it?" Jenny piped up.

"No!" Dinah, another of the girls from Rose's dorm who was sat with her feet in the lap of her boyfriend Sean Finnigan, gasped. "I never thought she'd actually do it."

"Do what?" Rose asked, bewildered.

"She's just too nice." Jenny added. "And she and Scorpius have been going out forever!"

"A year is not forever." Dinah picked up another chocolate frog and, ignoring the card, went straight for the amphibian. "And to be honest, I never thought that they were really suited to each other. I mean, who has designated date nights when you're seventeen? It's practically middle-aged!"

"You mean, she's dumped him?" Rose let her mouth fall open, her magazine sliding from between her fingers. "But they were totally perfect for each other!"

"Not really, actually." Sean said, dumping Dinah's feet out of his lap so he could reach over to the communal pile of chocolate. "I happened to overhear them having a massive row at the end of last term."

"Happened to overhear?" Jenny raised her eyebrows.

"I may have been hiding behind a suit of armour," Sean admitted with a wry grin. "But that's not the point. They weren't all as hearts and flowers as everyone supposed."

"What were they rowing about?" Rose asked, curiosity piqued. Like almost all of her friends, she had gotten to know Isabelle through her relationship with Scorpius, and grown to like her for her kindness and sweet personality. It was impossible not to like someone who brings chicken soup and pepper-up potions to people with colds.

"Actually, about you Rose." Sean looked a little uncomfortable. "I think Scorpius had blown off a study date to go over quidditch plays with you. She's always been a little jealous of you to be honest. It put Scorpius in a pretty awkward situation really."

"Me? But why didn't Scorpius just say something? I had no idea..." She trailed off, guilt settling into her stomach.

"Rose, this isn't your fault." Jenny's face was serious. "If anything, it's Scorpius's problem. It was his choice to balance things last year the way he did. Plus," she added, "Isabelle never said what was bothering her, and while I understand that she was just being kind about it, they are both adults now. It's up to them to make their relationship work."

"They were too serious, too young." Mack added, nodded sagely.

Rose started, having almost forgotten his presence in her confusion. Al rolled his eyes, opening his mouth to retort sharply but Rose cut across him, not wanting the two to argue.

"Should I go and see if he's all right?"

Despite being friends for so many years, Rose was always a little nervous about prying into Scorpius's relationships. Their own relationship, so close as it was, had been nothing more than that between siblings when they had first met, back in their first year. Little had changed over the next two years, but then, in her fourth year, Rose had started dating Mack and Scorpius had formed a hard, but thankfully short-lasting, crush on Rose's older cousin Roxanne.

Roxanne, to her credit, had been kind to her little cousin's best friend, and, when Scorpius joined the quidditch team that year, put up with his puppy-dog ways patiently for much longer than Rose would have expected for such a feisty character. But then Rose dumped Mack who, in any case, was getting in the way of her training schedule, and Roxanne, and her girlfriend Vivienne, became official and serious, Scorpius and Rose readdressed their previous status quo and went back to being best friends.

But there was always something more. No longer could Rose claim that she cared for Scorpius the same way she cared for Hugo. Yet, though their bond was no longer that of siblings, they became nothing more than platonic friends, until that party at the end of fifth year.

Rose could remember very little of that night, having pieced together most of the events of the evening from what others had witnessed. But what she mostly remembered was the aftermath, and a strange awkwardness emanating from her best friend in those last days of term.

That was the summer she went to Russia, and Scorpius and Isabelle began seeing each other.

And that was the summer when Rose realised that everything had changed.

 **.**

 **The Entrance Hall**

 **19oo hours**

 **.**

"Miss Weasley, please could you follow me."

Rose, who had been about to follow Scorpius into the Great Hall for the Sorting Ceremony, turned and, catching sight of Coach Hendrix, motioned for Scorpius to go on without her and elbowed her way through the crowds milling about the Entrance Hall. When she reached the coach, he gestured for Rose to follow her and led the way to his office. While crossing the hallway, he gathered three more seventh years, the three other captains. Rose and Robert Davies, the Ravenclaw lead chaser, exchanged quizzical glances, an expression that was shared by Marco Ives, the Hufflepuff seeker. However, Rose studiously ignored Flint, the Slytherin keeper; an studious obliviousness that both captains had perfected over the last few years.

The dynamic between the four captains was intriguing to outsiders, but simple enough to the teams themselves. Hufflepuff and Gryffindor had a pleasant enough relationship, and Rose was passably good friends with Robert who had sporadically dated her cousin Dominique, who had graduated the year before. With the number of Weasley's at Hogwarts, it was difficult to avoid old boyfriends and girlfriends, and so there was a general embargo on threatening behaviour to them, unless they really deserved it. After all, if all the spurned lovers of the extended Wotter clan had felt abused enough to team up most of the school would have been at war.

While Rose might studiously perfect the age-old rivalry with Flint and his Slytherin gang of gorillas on broomsticks, it was Marco Ives, the Hufflepuff captain whom Rose was most worried about. Gone were the days when the canary yellow robes were seen as a sign of derision. Ever since her own favourite adopted cousin, Teddy Lupin, had played, Weasley's had been in all four houses. Rose's own brother, who despite his bulk was keeper on the Hufflepuff side, was a talented player, despite his less than competitive ways.

Uneasy truces were formed, and betting was a necessity, but the dynamic of the four Captains worked well, until the points got too close, and then all hell broke loose.

When they reached Coach Hendrix's office Rose refused the chair she was offered and stood leaning against the wall, gazing around at the memorabilia of his own quidditch days that littered the walls and desk. She tore her eyes away from a miniature of the coach who was scratching his nose, his long robes fluttering behind him as the tiny model broomstick he rode, one of the ancient Nimbus's, took flight, and focused on the coach.

'I am sorry to make you miss the sorting,' Coach Hendrix had taken a seat behind the cluttered desk and steepled his fingers, gazing at the four best quidditch players in Hogwarts. 'But frankly quidditch is more important so get over it.'

Rose stifled a snort at his unorthodox words. After eighteen months of working closely with the coach supervising flying lessons, and before that, another three years of him refereeing their matches, she was well acquainted with his brusque manner.

'You are all here because you have each expressed an interest in playing professional quidditch after you leave this school. Some more ardently than others.'

Rose felt the three sets of eyes belonging to the other captains all turn to stare at her, but she didn't turn away from the coach.

'As I am sure you are aware, the Falmouth Falcon's manager has recently stepped down and they have appointed a new manager, Barry Ryan-'

Rose had heard this news, through her aunty Ginny, and personally thought that Ryan was both ancient and out of touch. After all, he hadn't played international quidditch since the 1994 World Cup.

'-who has decided to take an advisory position. However, due to the advancing age of the pool of professional players out there, Ryan has decided to procure a new player straight out of Hogwarts, sponsor them through the playoffs, and offer them a contract with the possibility of playing in the next world cup in four years time.'

Rose let out a gasp. She was not the only one. Ives was picking at the calluses on his fingers, fingernails digging deep without any apparent realisation of what he was doing. Flint was leaning forward, his eyes narrowed as he listened. Even the otherwise unflappable Davies had clenched his fists, leaning forwards so as not to miss a single world.

'This opportunity is open to any of the players over the age of seventeen.' Coach Hendrix continued, a smile on his face as he took in their expressions. 'There will be undercover scouts at every game, and official scouts at the final game as well as officials and some of the team players. Though open to everyone, the captain of the winners of the house cup is the most likely to be signed.'

No tryouts, no waiting in the reserves. This was the best entry to the quidditch world she was ever likely to get, and in that moment Rose knew that more than N.E.W.T.s, more than boyfriends, more than her mother's wishes, that she wanted to win this. That this was her chance.

'I will leave it to your discretion to tell your newly formed teams after tryouts have been completed.' Hendrix concluded, moving his gaze to each of them in turn. When he met Rose's eyes she stared back at him defiantly until he looked away.

'I will also be arranging a meeting with each of you individually over the next few months to discuss the appointment of your successors as Captain after your graduation.'

Hendrix nodded and the interview was over. Still, none of them moved for a moment, still flabbergasted over the carrot Hendrix was dangling in front of their noses.

'What are you still doing here?' Hendrix asked waspishly as he stepped out from behind his desk. 'I would have thought you'd be fighting over booking the pitch for tryouts by now.'

He swept out and they all let out a sigh, but the tension in the office did not disperse.

Flint was eying the other captains narrowly, and Ives was already scribbling names onto a piece of parchment. Only Davies seemed his old pleasant self. He nodded to Rose and held the door for her as they left the office together.

Still, as the four captains pushed open the doors to the Great Hall and stepped inside, it was more than obvious, as they headed for each of the long house tables, that all four were enemies now, and that this competition was going to test more than simply their quidditch skill.

* * *

 **Hello there my darlings, so the plot has arrived! I've always wanted to write a quidditch fic like this, so be warned! Quidditch is going to play a large role, but there will be love, lies, heartbreak and betting as well!**

 **Drop me a review! I haven't had any yet and that makes me really sad :(**

 **love and hugs**

 **A.A.A.**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

 **September 2nd**

 **The Gryffindor Seventh Year Girl's Dormitory.**

 **05oo hours**

.

Rose's alarm bleeped once then stopped as Rose hit it hard, effectively silencing the noise before it could wake the other girls in her dormitory.

The floor was cold beneath her bare feet as she hastily pulled on her running clothes and laced up her shoes. It was still dark as she crossed the common room and clambered out of the portrait hole.

'Why did you wake me?' The Fat Lady grumbled, but Rose was already gone, beginning the descent of seven floors to the Entrance Hall, scraping her hair back into a ponytail.

Once, her five am starts had been painful to the point of excruciating, and it had been all she could do not to crawl back under her blankets and berate herself for being so bloody stupid the night before. But after three years they were almost enjoyable. Only almost though.

The sun had risen by the time Rose, panting hard, had circled the Black Lake, a distance of some ten kilometres. She saw the giant hulking form of Hagrid in the distance as she ran along the edge of the Forbidden Forest, and skidded to a halt in the mud outside his hut to say hello.

Squashed in a rib-cracking hug, Rose managed to draw enough oxygen into her lungs to ask how he was doing.

'Well I'm not as young as I used ter be,' He smiled down at her. 'How about a nice cuppa tea?'

'Thanks Hagrid,' Rose gasped, managing to detach herself from his powerful arms. 'But I need to stretch before I can stop or I'll seize up. Another time though definitely. I'll drag Al and Scorpius down.'

Hagrid's beard twitched as he looked down at her, jogging up and down on the spot. 'I'll look forward to it,' He said. 'Ah I remember when it were your mum an' dad who used to come fer tea. Seems such a long time ago.'

He seemed sad as he spoke, despite his rueful grin, and Rose suddenly noticed, between the beetles and general chaos of Hagrid's beard, there were streaks of grey. He suddenly looked old to her, something the great man had never done before.

'Are you okay Hagrid?' Rose asked before she could stop herself. Worrying that she had offended him, she shut her mouth, but she needed have worried as Hagrid beamed at her.

'Ah well, can't complain. Besides, I got myself a bit of a helped now, what with me grounds-keeping jobs and teaching an' all. There 'e is now.'

Hagrid pointed a finger as thick as the branch of a tree and Rose turned her head, still jogging on the spot, to see a figure emerging from the forest. Tall, but with a surprisingly slight figure considering the giant sack that he hauled over his back, the figure waved to Hagrid and walked forwards.

'Ay Rosie, this is Findley, he's helpin' out this year.'

Rose stuck out her hand, slowing her bouncing feet and shook his hand. Findley was obviously surprised by the power of her grip, but greeted her politely.

He was a good-looking man in his early thirties, Rose imagined, with darkly tanned skin and hair cut very short. Rose also imagined that most of the female population, or probably a number of the male population too, would very quickly be in love with the new groundskeeper.

'Out for a run at this time? I didn't think students ever saw the world this early in the morning.' Findley grinned at her, and it made him look younger. One of his teeth was chipped.

'Most of them don't,' Rose admitted with a wry smile. 'But I run ten kilometres every morning before class, whether I need it or not.'

Findley looked impressed and Rose tried hard not to be pleased at his interest.

'That's certainly very admirable.' He answered.

'The rest of my team don't necessarily agree when I force them out of bed at five am to join me.' Rose grinned. 'I thought I'd give them the very first day back to sleep in though. Don't want to end up in the Hospital Wing on the very first day of classes.'

'Quidditch?' Findley gaged and Rose nodded.

'Gryffindor captain. Thanks for the offer of tea Hagrid but I better run. I'll see you in Care of Magical Creatures though. Nice to meet you', She added, waving at Findley as she turned and began to run back up to the school. When she reached to cut through by the greenhouses she turned back. The chimney of Hagrid's hut was smoking, and he had clearly gone inside, but Findley was still watching her. She waved, and he waved back, then she lengthened her strides and headed inside.

...

 **The Great Hall**

 **08oo hours**

'You can forget it if you want me to go running with you at five am, competition be dammed', Scorpius said moodily as he piled ketchup onto his sausages.

'Did someone get out of bed on the wrong side this morning?' Rose teased, sliding into a seat beside him, nudging Al's bag out of the way.

There was a laugh from the other side of table as Keegan sat down. 'You could say that. His bed's next to the wall so it takes a real thickie to-'

'Look, timetables!' Albus handed them around as they were joined by Sean Finnigan and Dinah Lee.

Rose took hers, argument swept away, and unfolded it.

'Great', she smile. 'I've got Care of Magical Creatures this afternoon.'

'Herbology with the Hufflepuffs this morning', Scorpius added, 'Then I've got a free before lunch.'

'Here, swap.' Rose handed him the piece of paper.

Scorpius's timetable was similar enough to Rose's, with the exception that instead of Care of Magical Creatures he was taking Transfiguration, and he was taken an additional N.E.W.T as well - Arithmancy.

'So when are you holding tryouts Rose?' Keegan asked around a mouthful of toast.

'Seven o'clock on Saturday morning.' She replied. 'Then Ravenclaw get the pitch from twelve. We agreed last night.'

Dinah giggled. 'You are so lucky, Davies is gorgeous!'

' _Hey!_ ' But Dinah ignored Sean, leaning forward conspiratorially.

'That he is', Rose agreed with a smile, 'But alas, we have very strict rules about dating other quidditch players.'

'Who said anything about dating?' Dinah asked, and Rose snorted with laughter.

...

 **The Common Room**

 **11oo hours**

 **...**

By the time Rose and Scorpius had left the greenhouses, sweaty and covered in dragon manure, and headed up to the castle to use their free period to start their essay, Scorpius's mood had worsened. It probably hadn't been helped by the fact that Isabelle and her friend Belinda had been working at the bench next to them. Scorpius had spent so much time _not_ looking at his ex-girlfriend that he had accidentally walked into the Venomous Tentacular and Professor Sprout had needed her wand and a very large pair of secateurs to get him free. His mood had not been improved when Sprout had assigned a three foot essay as a recap from sixth year.

Now, sat side by side in the comfortable squashy armchairs by the first, Rose couldn't help sneaking glances at her friend as he scribbled, nose nearly touching the parchment. She wondered how hard his breakup was treating him, but was too scared to ask.

His hair was really too long to be a proper quidditch player, it would obscure his vision as he searched for the snitch, she thought critically. She supposed it was just as well that he adamantly refused to consider playing quidditch after Hogwarts, instead slaving his arse off to get the N.E.W.T grades to work at St Mungo's. He had the perfect slight build for a seeker though, wiry muscles but without the bulk the other positions required.

It was odd how Scorpius build suited his position, when Rose felt awkward and unsure when she was on the ground. She was tall, had been taller than most of the boys for a number of years until they finally caught her up but she lacked the broad shoulders most beaters had. Nor did she carry the bulk of muscle that would have added power to her swing. Her muscles might be taut and strong, but her lack of weight counted against her, especially when playing in high winds. Still, she had spent years optimizing herself, training her muscles to become the best she could. Girls often complimented her on the powerful ropey muscles in her thighs but that was because she spent so much time riding her broom with only her legs so she could use both hands to power through her swing.

But she was not what you could call feminine, not like Dinah who was short and curvy, or Jenny who looked as though a gust of wind might blow her away. Watching Scorpius from the corner of her eye, she wondered what his type was. If Isabelle was anything to go by Rose was the opposite end of the spectrum.

She said goodbye to Scorpius at the foot of the stairs a few hours later, and together with Albus, they crossed the Entrance Hall and headed out into the sunshine of the grounds for Care of Magical Creatures.

The lesson was interesting, despite their lack of numbers. Last year there had been ten students taking Hagrid's class, but it seemed as though the pressure of N.E.W.T.s was catching up with everyone as there were only six students assembled in the small paddock at the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

Rose, Albus and Keegan waved to Hagrid, and joined their classmates, Macnair from Slytherin, Lizzie Longbottom from Hufflepuff and Joshua Lemming from Ravenclaw.

Lizzie snuck over to the Gryffindors when Hagrid had disappeared into the forest to collect the creature they were to study that day.

'Hey guys', she smiled at them. The afternoon sunlight glinted against the shiny Head Girl badge pinned to the front of her robes, the twin of the one on Albus's own chest.

'Hey Lizzie', Rose grinned back. 'Congratulations on getting Head Girl by the way. Uncle Neville told us last week.'

'Thanks Rose, I was really surprised.'

'I bet Toby's sick as a parrot.' Al laughed.

'Well he always was annoyed that I decided not to follow in his footsteps of generally causing mayhem.' Lizzie joked. 'But he's got a job finally, so hopefully he'll start to grow up a bit.'

'I wouldn't bet on it', Al teased. 'Your brother and mine were possibly the most immature students to ever grace the halls of Hogwarts!'

They had a very enjoyable lesson, even though they did get rather a shock when Hagrid reappeared from the forest and released a very large, and very terrifying spider into the paddock. Even Rose, who thought her father was a complete fool every time he saw a spider, hastily backed away.

'Acromantula!' Hagrid announced, with the tone of someone saying: _'puppies!'_ or _'free Honeydukes chocolate!'_

Still, once they got over the fact that the spider could eat them in about two bites, they found the lesson interesting, and Rose had made extensive notes about the magical respiratory system that allows the insect to grow to such sizes. Best of all, Hagrid assigned no homework which left Rose with an entirely free evening even as Albus moaned about the extensive rune translation he had to do that night.

'Serves you right', Rose said unfeelingly as they began to climb the stairs to Gryffindor Tower to dump their books before dinner. 'After all, you were the one who gave up quidditch to be Head Boy.'

Albus obviously wasn't in the mood for her teasing though. 'Drop it Rosie, you know I need top marks to make it into auror training and I just don't have time for quidditch with the duelling club and everything else.'

'I know' Rose sighed. 'I was only teasing. It's just a shame because you're an incredible player and I could really do with you on the team.'

'I'm sorry too. I do miss it', Albus admitted as they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady and said the password. 'How about I come and help you out at tryouts. Take some of the pressure off you and Scorpius.'

'Thanks Al, you're a brick.' Rose smiled at her cousin. 'Even if you did ditch quidditch for responsibility. When you got the badge I thought Aunty Ginny would die of shock!'

...

 **The Hogwarts Quidditch Stadium**

 **19oo hours**

...

After completing a detailed plan for trials that weekend and generally annoying Albus and Scorpius while they were trying to work, Rose decided she was bored and headed out of the common room, broom in hand.

Rose had flown all summer at the undersized pitch at the back of the Lodge, and even spent one memorably day flying laps at the Holy Head Harpies training ground. She'd played in the junior league in Russia, and even competed against some of the best underage players in the world in Norway. But there was nothing like playing quidditch on the Hogwarts Pitch.

It was the place where she had always felt most at home, the place where her hard, taut body was something to praise, not look upon strangely. She remembered reading, in Victor Krum's autobiography, that he too felt strangely unbalanced on the ground. Perhaps it was just something that quidditch players felt, but Rose had never felt that comfortable in her body on the floor. Perhaps it was the contrast to her cousin Lily, who somehow managed to bring her femininity to the pitch, as well as the dating scene, but Rose sometimes wished she was as comfortable wearing dress robes as her young cousin was.

By the end of the session her arms were burning from whacking the bludgers back and forth and it was growing dark. Despite being the only player out on the pitch she had released both bludgers, and it had taken all her concentration to avoid both of them, especially as she was the only player they could target. Still, by the time she had landed and wrestled them back into their crate she felt invigorated and happy, despite the sore muscles.

It was while she was heading back up to Gryffindor Tower, thinking longingly of soaking her sore muscles in a hot bath, that she literally bumped into a short figure who cannoned off her and narrowly avoided taking down a suit of armour with her.

Rose dashed forwards and helped Isabelle to her feet, apologising profusely, but Isabelle waved away her apologies and replied that she was entirely to blame. This would have continued some time, but both seemed to realise that it would take all night to assign blame to a blameless occurrence.

'How are you Rose?' Isabelle shifted the books she was carrying, a little uneasily it seemed to Rose.

'Oh, ticking along you know. Just getting ready for tryouts.' Rose lifted her broomstick as if proof was required, but then hastily stopped, feeling uncomfortable. After all, if Isabelle did blame her for taking up too much of Scorpius's time with quidditch this didn't seem the most tactful of introductions.

'That's good. Though Marco keeps saying that you've got no chance against us. Not that he means to be rude', she hastily added. 'He's just very competitive. Any I wish you all the best with the tournament.'

'Thank you.' Rose didn't know why she was surprised at Isabelle's servility. Everyone agreed that she was the nicest person in their year. 'That's very kind of you.'

'It's nothing.' Isabelle made as if to turn away, but stopped herself. 'Does-' She paused again. 'Has Scorpius said anything? About me I mean.' She amended.

Rose shook her head. 'Sorry no, but I know he is quite upset about what happened between you two.'

Isabelle bit her lip. 'I never meant to hurt him, he does know that doesn't he?'

'I know.' Rose wondered when relationships had become so complicated. 'And I think when he cheers up a bit, he'll get that too.'

'We were just going in different directions, you know. He and I, well, we wanted different things. But I'd like to still be friends you all. We Hufflepuffs enjoy hanging out with you madcap Gryffindors!' Isabelle smiled for the first time, and it lit up her pretty face.

'Of course Isabelle', Rose smiled back. 'Give Scorpius a bit of time and then I'm sure he will want to carry on hanging out. It's still a bit raw at the moment though.'

'Of course, I completely understand.' Isabelle shifted her pile of books again. 'Well I'd better go, don't want to be late for curfew and all that. And Rose', she called out over her shoulder. 'Look after him for me please.'

'I always do.' She replied and Isabelle headed down the staircase, jumping the trick step third from the bottom, to head towards the Hufflepuff common room. Slowly, Rose began to climb the stairs again.

The common room was still pretty full when she entered, and she saw Scorpius, head bowed, still working on his Herbology essay. Without a word she sank into the chair next to him and tugged the parchment out from between his fingers. Picking up her quill she began to circle the mistakes and write the corrections in her cramped handwriting in the margins. Scorpius smiled at her gratefully, then closed his tired eyes, letting his head fall back against the chair.

* * *

 **Hello there my darlings, how are you enjoying my little story?**

 **A big thanks to Gandlaf537 and Needle in a Haystack, my first reviewers! May they be the first of many! Check out their stories, they're very good.**

 **So how are we liking the set up so far? I'm loving all the background characters in this so most of their year will be appearing at one point or another. If it ever gets too complicated, drop me a review and I'll post my list of characters with their houses etc.**

 **Love and hugs (and hopefully reviews!)**

 **A.A.A.**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

 **...**

 **September 7th**

 **The Quidditch Pitch**

 **07oo hours**

 **...**

Rose had hoped that the early start might have weeded out some of the most hopeless cases, but, watching the group of potential players make their way onto the pitch clutching a collection of brooms that varied from Flying Saucers to the wonky old school brooms, it appeared her plan had failed. She sat astride her broomstick, hovering about ten feet from the ground, arms folded as she scanned the candidates. Her mouth pursed.

Scorpius, who was hovering next to her, told her to cheer up. 'Your expression is enough to turn milk sour', he teased while Al, on the third of the hovering broomsticks, snorted. 'Cheer up Rose. Ever since you told us about that bloody competition you've been looking like a salamander someone left out in the rain.'

'This team needs to be perfect, and I'm not about to sacrifice my professional career on substandard players.' Rose answered brusquely. 'I need dedication, hard work and talent. Finding one new player is going to be hard enough, never mind four.'

'Then scare off the weaklings and uncover the real talent.' A new voice said, and Rose turned her head to see the last member of their team, Lily, who had joined them. 'There's at least fifty kids here, and you need four. Do your intimidating thing and get rid of the time-wasters.'

'My intimidating what?' Rose asked, but Al cut across her.

'She's right, this will take all day otherwise and you've only got me until the Heads meeting at eleven.'

Rose turned her face to Scorpius who shrugged in a 'what can you do' kind of way. 'You know I'll stay here as long as you need me.'

'This is going to be incredibly painful.' She groaned as she stared down at the squabbling and yawning crowd.

'Perfection is pain, isn't that what you always say?' Lily teased. 'Now go on, those boys over there look too small to even be first years.'

Rose sighed one more time then stuck two fingers in her mouth and let out a piercing whistle that left the buzzing crowd below silent and Albus rubbing his ears. Scorpius and Lily, used to Rose's tactics, had long ago perfected the art of hiding their pain when Rose did that.

'First years, leave.' Rose roared, her voice echoing around the pitch. A number of first years scuttled off, some looking terrified, some mutinous. Ah well, they'd learn soon enough.

'Anyone here who is not willing to get out of bed at six am every morning - leave. Anyone here who is not willing to train everyday - leave. Anyone who is not willing to run until they are sick - leave. Anyone here with any kind of life beyond quidditch - leave.'

The crowd was watching her, eyes wide, and Rose suddenly felt flush with the power of the sport, the power her training had brought her.

'I don't care who you are, put your brooms down and run three laps of the pitch.'

Mutters broke out among the crowd, and very few people moved. Many looked confused, many annoyed. Only a handful followed her instructions, laying down their brooms and beginning to run. Rose noticed with interest that her own third year cousin, Lucy, was among them. This surprised her. After all, it wasn't like Uncle Percy or Aunt Audrey were known for their quidditch prowess, nor for their lack of stringent health and safety measures. Lucy and Molly, as far as Rose knew, had never been on a broom in their lives.

'We're here to play quidditch, not run laps.' A boy had stepped forwards from the ranks, his brand new Io 16 is one hand.

Rose smiled. It was not a nice smile. It was the kind of smile a crocodile gives before biting into your leg.

'Oh I'm so terribly sorry. How incredibly foolish of me. Of course we're here to play quidditch! How about you come up here and help me with these trials seen as I obviously have no idea what I'm doing?' Her voice was silky as Stinkwell sap and twice as toxic.

The boy gulped.

'No? Well then maybe you should get off the pitch.'

The boy gaped. 'What?' He shouted, 'You can't do that!'

'Can't I?' Rose's silky voice suddenly rose to a roar. 'I train for four hours every single day. I can run a four minute mile and bench press twice my own weight. I have played quidditch in four continents, including against the Russian underage national team in sub-zero temperatures. I have trained in sleet and snow, thunderstorms and gale force winds. This team will be comprised of the best players at Hogwarts, players who potentially will go on to play for the league and I will NOT TOLERATE TIMEWASTERS!'

A young second year burst into tears. Rose and Lily watched in satisfaction as the crowds thinned, some heading back up to the castle, others to the stands to watch the trials.

'Much better.' Rose let out a breath, and felt her calm return. Her voice returned to normal as she addressed the remaining students. 'Why are you not running?'

The main crowd had only completed around half a lap when the first group, the ones _who could follow orders_ , Rose thought, had finished. Some were breathing hard and looked a little winded, but that didn't worry Rose. Weakness could be eradicated through hard work and dedication.

Four broomsticks hit the grass as Rose, Albus, Scorpius and Lily landed. Rose walked over to the group of about six students and noticed Keegan, who obviously knew Rose too well after six years of being the same house as her to argue, and Erin Oxley, whom Lily had obviously warned about Rose's volatile ways.

'Split yourselves into groups depending on the position you are trying out for, then warm up.' Rose told them. 'When those lazy lumps decide to join us, they'll do the same.'

'You know', Albus whispered in her ear as she pulled out a clipboard and quill, 'You're bloody terrifying sometimes. It's like Aunty Hermione and mum polyjuiced into one person!'

'Thank you.' Rose was honestly flattered.

...

The rest of the trials went reasonably well and Rose didn't need to shout again, seemingly having terrified everyone enough for one day. They filled the two chaser positions reasonably quickly, Lily deciding that, of the four potential players she and Rose had chosen, two she could work with and two she _just couldn't._ Of the rejects, one was a sixth year girl who had good aim, but lacked Lily's dedication ( _'She can't even see the quaffle through all that gunk she's got round her eyes!'_ ) and the other, a spindly looking boy who moaned the whole time that he was cold despite the late summer sun which had made an appearance, and his excellent ability to dodge bludgers.

Rose had known from the beginning that she wanted Erin to be on the team, and watching her put away nine out of ten goals did nothing to worry her. But it was her attitude to the game that really appealed to Rose. After all, she had been friends with Lily for the five years they had been at Hogwarts, and like most definitely turns to like.

The other, surprisingly, was Keegan Lucas. He had never tried out before, and had no interest in following the sport as a career. In fact, Rose privately wondered why he'd tried out at all. He clearly enjoyed flying, and was excellent at it, but he lacked the burning passion Rose and Lily had. Still, he cleared as many goals as Erin, and managed to dodge both the bludgers that Rose sent at him without dropping the quaffle.

Keeper tryouts was less unexpected. Though Rose had been silently routing for Alex Simpson, a well built forth year who had been in the initial group of runners, it was Mack McClaggen who saved every goal that Lily sent his way, including one spectacular save including a sloth grip role.

Rose might periodically go out with him, but she didn't like his arrogance on the pitch. That last save with the sloth grip role had been entirely to please the crowd, but there was no denying he was the best keeper of the bunch and she grudgingly wrote down his name on her list.

It was the beater tryouts that caused the biggest stir however. Partially because of the difficulty of the position, not that many of the students could fly without their hands, but mostly because of Rose's reputation, very few people had decided to try out.

Rose missed Roxy as she watched the first two flyers almost knock themselves out with the misjudged force of their swing, then even more as the third flyer fell off the back of their broom as they over-powered their swing and sent the lone bludger down the pitch.

She had almost settled on Ryan Coots who had the physical requirements of a beater and could aim well when she saw Lucy fly up for her turn. It was shocking really, how well the thirteen year old could fly. She seemed as natural as all the Wotter children were in the air, gripping casually with her knees as she tossed her bat from hand to hand.

'Lucy?' Rose choked. 'You can't be serious.'

'Deadly.' Lucy replied and swung, sending the bludger ricocheting towards the goal posts at the far end of the pitch where it passed through the centre hoop and slowed, coming back for another attempt.

'Uncle Percy will kill me.' Rose answered, but she was beaming as Lucy used both hands to power the bludger towards Albus who was hovering with Lily. Rose was impressed to see the way Lucy had put additional spin onto the ball so it changed direction at the last moment, not giving anyone time to avoid it. Albus was less impressed when he woke up in the Hospital Wing an hour later, but even he had to admit it had been a good hit.

...

By midday the trials were over and the stands were beginning to empty of Gryffindor students began to wander up to the castle for lunch, only to be replaced by the blue and gold of Ravenclaw as Davies began to set up his own tryouts.

'Results on the notice board tomorrow at midday', Rose told the remaining Gryffindors, then it was over. She, Lily and Scorpius landed and sat down, examining the list that Rose had drawn up.

The trio poured over the list, occasionally making suggestions that Rose scribbled in the margin of the parchment, assembling the team that they thought would work. All three had reservations about the appointment of Mack, but, as Lily said: _'He may be a pillock, but he's a pillock who's a bloody brilliant keeper.'_

Coach Hendrix joined them mid way through this discussion, accompanied by a lean women with hair cropped so short it looked more like a faint fuzz of brown against her pink scalp. Her robes of dark grey and white distinguished her team, as well as doing little to hide the ropey muscles in her arms.

'Rose.' Coach Hendrix said as Rose jumped to her feet. 'I'd like you to meet Rhoda Mantis, reserve chaser for the Falcons. She is one of the overseers of this competition. Rhoda, this is Rose Weasley, the Gryffindor captain.'

Rose stretched out her hand, and the two engaged in a battle of brief but powerful squeezing, wanting to see who would breakaway first. To Rose's delight, it was Mantis who pulled away, smiling slightly as she examined her fingers.

'Not bad.' She said. 'Ives seemed more worried about hurting me than considering me as a quidditch player.'

'Well you know Hufflepuffs, too nice by half. Just wait until you see him on the pitch though, he'll soon forget all about being nice.' Rose replied.

'Interesting practise. Can I see your notes?' Without waiting for a reply, Mantis plucked the parchment from Scorpius's grasp and scanned through the pages of notes surrounding each chosen player's name.

'Intriguing choice, picking Lucas over Boyle. Any reason for doing so?'

Rose cocked her head slightly as she considered the question. 'Boyle may technically be the more experienced player, he certainly has flown and trained more than Lucas. But I'm not here to only access players in terms of their talent. I have to take into account my team's thoughts, as well my own instincts regarding the attitude of the player. We are first and foremost a team, and Boyle is not a team player. Nor, considering the amount of moaning we had to listen to today, is he willing to devote enough time to the less glamorous side of quidditch, like the five am starts.'

If Mantis disagreed with Rose's pronouncement, she didn't say anything, simply handing turning another page of the parchment.

'What are these?' She gestured to a set of bullet points Rose had neatly laid out on the last page of parchment.

'The rules.' Lily answered, before Rose could. 'And before you ask, yes they do work, and yes, they are necessary.'

'I would expect nothing less, though I imagine your new team members might be less keen', Mantis said, handing back the parchment. 'I am going to be watching the tryouts of all four teams', she continued. 'And attending all the matches with a number of my colleagues. Good luck Rose Weasley. Let's see if your instincts pay off.'

She swept away with Hendrix to take her seat again to watch the Ravenclaw trials which were just beginning.

Rose picked up her broom, and Lily and Scorpius did the same, exiting the stadium with a cheeky wave to Robert Davies who was dividing up students into groups.

'What did you make of her?' Lily asked as they began the long climb up to Gryffindor Tower to put away their broomsticks and change out of their sweaty robes. 'Rather forceful I thought, but very straight-laced.'

They jumped the trick stair, third from the bottom and crossed onto the second floor landing to avoid Peeves the Poltergeist by taking a short cut behind a suit of armour.

'She liked you', Scorpius told Rose.

'Oh really, how could you tell?' Rose asked as they continued to climb.

'Instinct', he smiled. 'I think you remind her of herself. And whether the other captains like it or not, you are the one to watch in this competition.'

'Thanks Scorp.' Rose gave his arm a quick squeeze then suddenly pulled back her ears burning red. With the madness of homework, training and quidditch over the last few days, she'd almost forgotten the weird feelings in her stomach whenever she looked at her friend for too long but now she was grateful she's pulled her matted hair from its eye-brow-raisingly tight ponytail, because the thick locks covered her ears from sight.

Looking hastily away, she ran up the last few steps after her cousin.

* * *

 **A.N.**

 **Another day, another chapter, and I'm really enjoying this story. So sad that so few people are reading it :( Ah well... Shout out to Gandalf537 for the lovely review!**

 **What did you make of this chapter? I had great fun writing Scary Rose, let me know!**

 **Updates are going to be every Sunday from now on as I already have the next two chapter written, and the rest planned!**

 **love and hugs**

 **A.A.A.**


	6. Chapter 6

_Chapter Six_

 **...**

 **September 15th**

 **The Hogwarts Grounds**

 **06oo hours**

 **...**

'Hello Findley, what are you up to?' Rose, joined this morning by a grudging Lily, skidded to a halt as the tall figure of the assistant grounds keeper emerged from the Forbidden Forest, today sack-less, but carrying Hagrid's enormous crossbow.

Rose seemed to bump into Findley most morning about this time. Sometimes they stopped to chat about Rose's plans for the Gryffindor team, or what new and terrifying creature Hagrid had prepared for the students to study next, and sometimes they only waved. Still, Rose found herself liking him a great deal, much to the disgust of both Albus and Scorpius who had both taken an instant dislike to him.

'Been looking for unicorns for the third years', he replied, shifting the crossbow. 'But I'm too old and too manly to have much luck.'

Rose chuckled. 'How is it in the Forest these days?'

'Oh you know, a bit dark, a bit gloomy, and as always full of things that want to eat me.' Findley nodded hello to Lily who was breathing too hard to be much use at all in the conversation, and she managed a weak wave back.

'How are team practises going Rose?' He asked.

'Good thanks, we've had three so far and I'm feeling reasonably confident. Mind you, lots of that is thanks to Lily here. When she's not gasping like a stranded fish she's possibly the best chaser you've ever met!'

'So I've heard. You know, I met your mother once at a quidditch match, back in her Holy Head Harpies days. Never seen a chaser so good with the quaffle. I reckon she could have gone on to play for England if she hadn't wanted a family instead.'

Lily managed a nod, and bent over, her hands on her knees.

'I didn't know you knew aunt Ginny', Rose said intrigued.

'Well I don't _know_ her. She knew my dad you see, and he took me to one of her matches when I was a kid.'

'Mm, I'll have to write to her and ask if she remembers you.' Rose stretched out one of her shoulders, then the other.

'Oh I'm sure she won't remember me', He said easily. 'Don't bother her, I'm sure she's very busy with running the sports section of the Daily Prophet and all.'

'I'm going to kill you for this Rose', Lily wheezed when Findley had stumped off in the direction of the Black Lake. They were jogging slowly up towards the castle and Lily's heart rate had finally returned to normal. 'Five am starts, what were you thinking?'

'Not my fault you decided to ditch working out over the summer.' Rose said with teasing superiority. 'I did offer remember?'

'I'm still going to kill you.' Lily muttered under her breath as they made their way back up to Gryffindor Tower.

 **...**

 **The Great Hall**

 **07oo hours**

 **...**

One of the best things about her early starts, especially on the weekends, was that she always reached the Great Hall while it was almost deserted, which in turn meant that she got the best of the food, the hottest of the coffee, and the peace and solitude of a breakfast without constant interruptions from annoying third years and their hideously embarrassing bodily functions. Really, she could do without fart humour this early in the morning.

Scorpius joined her as she was just finishing her protein-heavy breakfast and slumped down in the seat next to her.

'Sausages?' Rose waved the platter enticingly under his nose. 'Bacon? Eggs?'

'Coffee.' He replied, rubbing sleep from his eyes. 'I didn't make it to bed until three this morning, and then blasted Peeves just woke me up by throwing cold water over me.'

Rose gave him a quick, one-armed, sympathetic hug, then reached for the coffee pot.

'Least you got all your work done though.' She said soothingly, pouring him a large mug which he gratefully gulped.

'I'm three weeks in advance now, actually', he said rather smugly. 'Even in Herbology which I'm pretty sure is going to kill me!'

'Well, why don't you ask Lizzie to help you?' Rose suggested. 'Everyone knows she's the best at Herbology in our year. And she's Head Girl, she's supposed to help us.'

'Maybe', Scorpius said noncommittally. 'She's so busy. And anyway, I'm not so sure Albus wouldn't jinx my junk off just for suggesting it.'

'Albus is just going to have to grow up and realise that she doesn't like him back that way, and that she has other male friends outside of him.' Rose said exasperatedly. 'It's not like she hasn't been entirely clear about her feelings for him. Only you know my cousin-'

'-That I do.'

'-He's got it into his prat head that because they're both Heads this year, and they get to share a private common room, that they're destined to be together.'

'Wouldn't he find it weird though?' Scorpius asked round a mouthful of eggs. 'Dating his brother's ex-girlfriend?'

'It definitely would be weird, but the idiot has persuaded himself that they're soul mates. Ridiculous isn't it?'

'What's ridiculous?'

Rose and Scorpius looked up to see Keegan sliding into the seat opposite them.

'Albus's crush on Lizzie.' Rose explained.

'You mean his slightly weird crush on his brother's ex-girlfriend?'

'That would be the one', Scorpius sighed, setting down his cutlery. 'So, on another note, where are the rest of the team? It's almost half seven and I'm pretty sure they're all too scared of you to be late.'

'Lily's probably still trying to drown herself in the shower.' Rose replied, taking a sip from her goblet. 'I made her come running with me this morning and she's not as in shape as she was.'

'There's Lucy now', Scorpius nodded to the door where Lucy, already dressed in her scarlet quidditch robes, was hurrying towards them, a spring in her step and her beater's club in one hand. She slid into the seat next to Rose and gave her older cousin a hug before loading a plate and beginning to eat.

Lily and Erin sat down next, both taking toast and liberally applying jam, but it was a full twenty minutes later that Mack McClaggen finally deigned to arrive.

'Morning all.' He said cheerfully, as though he was not seventeen whole minutes late.

'You're late', said Rose through gritted teeth. Beside her, Scorpius rolled his eyes, though whether that was because of McClaggen's lateness, or Rose's pedantic ways she wasn't sure.

'Training doesn't start until eight', Mack answered, casually taking a bite of toast (with marmite - _Yuck!_ )

'And I told you to be here at half past seven so we had half an hour to eat, then half an hour to digest while we go over some housekeeping before starting flying training at eight-thirty.'

Rose was beginning to wonder why she had been out with this boy on three separate occasions. It had never occurred to her before, probably because, even though they had dated off and on for the last three years, they had never spent all that much time together. She had been pretty sure he had only been with her because she could always get great quidditch tickets, thanks to her aunt, and she was only with him because he could do this really great thing with his tongue, and had the tightest set of abs she had ever seen.

 _But really_ , she thought crossly to herself now, _what kind of reasons are those for dating someone three times?_

Scorpius had a real connection with Isabelle, despite their slightly middle-aged ways. He'd actually been upset when she ended things. Rose had felt absolutely diddly-squat when she'd ended things with Mack last time. She snuck a peak at her best friend as he absentmindedly poked at some leftover yoke on his plate with his fork.

 _I'd give up Mack a thousand times over, than give up Scorpius,_ she thought, and felt her ears go red.

 **...**

 **The Gryffindor Changing Rooms**

 **08oo hours**

 **...**

'So that's the layout for our training regime over the next term', Rose concluded, pointing to the diagram covered in squiggle arrows with her wand. 'And a general overview of how I see this term, and the match against Slytherin, progressing. But now I want to go over something else.' She flipped over the piece of parchment with the moving arrows and pinned it back to the board.

'These are the rules of this quidditch team.' She announced. 'For those of you who were on the team last year, you will know how it goes and the consequences of breaking one of these rules. Some are simple expectations as part of this team, others are for your own health and safety. I demand a lot from you as my team mates, but your safety is one of my most pressing concerns, especially with the added pressures on the tournament this year. Lastly, some of these rules may seem a little strange, but over the years I have been Captain I have found these rules help create a family, a secure environment for the players.'

Mack snorted slightly and Lily shot him a frosty look. Rose closed her eyes for the briefest of moments and then moved on.

'There are five rules that I will expect you to follow if you wish to remain part of this team.' She cleared her throat.

'One. This team is a family, a _platonic_ family. We have found in the past that when relationships interfere with quidditch the only losers are the team themselves. Hence, no relationships are allowed within this team.'

Rose glanced over at Mack, but he seemed uninterested as he picked at a speck of mud on his robes.

'We also don't want to encourage relationships with players from other house teams due to the complications this can lead to. '

Erin shifted slightly, but didn't say anything.

However, if you are currently dating someone, I don't know your own personal relationship statuses, I am not so cold-hearted as to expect you to end things. However, I am serious when I say it must _not_ interfere with your play.

'Two. This team is a democracy. Therefore all major decisions will be made as a team, though I shall have the overall say in the event of a tie. I know the Slytherins and Ravenclaws prefer to let their captain make all decisions but I feel that this is narrow-minded and potentially is damaging to the team. Therefore speak up. We are first and foremost a team. I may captain you, but that doesn't give me the right to squash your views and ideas.

'Furthermore, this extends to fighting amongst yourselves. This team cannot function if petty squabbles and arguments are rife. Therefore there will be no arguing within this team. If you have a complaint or issue, bring it to me and I shall mediate the discussion with all members of the team.

'Three. You will turn up to training on time and without complaints. I don't want pitiful excuses as to why you are late, or didn't make it. If you have a decent reason for missing practise, I expect to be informed before the training session.'

'Four. Anyone who, for some inconceivable reason, wishes to leave the team, will inform me one month before the next match so I can find and train a replacement. If a match falls within that time frame, you will play. This is non-negotiable.

'Finally, before every match, training or real, you will eat a balanced and full breakfast containing protein. I will not threaten the safety of my players, nor the outcome of a match, with people falling off their brooms due to nerves and low-blood sugar.'

Lily and Scorpius looked unimpressed by these rules, but as both on them had been on the team for three years, this wasn't the first time they had heard it. In fact, Rose was pretty sure that she had seen Lily mouthing along at one point. Lucy was nodding along in her sage little way, despite the fact that, at thirteen, very few of the rules were likely to affect her. Keegan and Erin both seemed to understand the necessity of such rules, but Mack barely seemed to be listening.

Rose bit her tongue and picked up her broom, leading her teammates out onto the pitch. She got the feeling she was going to be biting her tongue around Mack McClaggen a lot this year.

 **...**

 **The Basements**

 **21:oo hours**

 **...**

Rose stuck her head around the corner to make sure that Filch, patrolling prefects and teachers, and most dangerously, Peeves, weren't around, then set off at a smart pace towards the end of the dark corridor. Normally, she would have borrowed the Marauder's Map, but Lily had needed it tonight, so Rose was relying on her wits to reach her destination tonight without being caught.

The basements were situated, much as the dungeons were under the Slytherin common room, one floor beneath the Hufflepuff dormitories and, like the dungeons, they went on for miles. Mostly they were used for storage, as well as the house-elf quarters, but at the end of the corridor Rose was now hurrying along, a left, a set of stone stairs, a trick passageway, one more set of stairs and a secret entrance, lay a destination of a different kind.

Most people knew Rose's younger brother as just that, Rose's younger brother. He had been almost invisible in her shadow when he started Hogwarts two years after she did, and while he had gained some notoriety for his keeping prowess on the Hufflepuff quidditch team, he mostly preferred to remain in the shadows. After all, it made business _so_ much easier.

Rose reached the seemingly dead-end of the corridor she was walking down and reached out, examining the stone wall by the light of her wand. There, on the third brick from the left, was the faded outline of a handprint, burnt into the stone. She stretched out her own fingers, laying her palm against the dark mark and spoke aloud.

'I, Rose Weasley, ask entry to the Hogwarts' Underground Recreational Club.'

She rolled her eyes at her brother's flair for the dramatics when the wall began to roll back, the stones slabs splitting apart to reveal the entrance.

There were a few students, mostly six and seventh years sat in leather chairs by a roaring fire, playing what looked to be poker. Normally, Rose would have joined them for a hand, after all her legillimens and occlumency were remarkably good, but the stakes looked to be high. Mercury Bullstrode seemed to have just put down a thirty per cent share in her family's firm, against a vial of Amortentia and seventy-two hours of Felix Felicis supplied by Cecelia Knot and Charles McNair respectively.

Rose walked past them as Celia Raventhorpe looked at her cards and raised; throwing in her wristwatch which everyone knew had been an heirloom from Morgana, and smiled as her fellow Ravenclaw Manar Ling folded, sacrificing a large pile of gold.

Rose passed a thick red curtain which was closed, but from which thin wisps of smoke emanated, and headed for a thick wooden door at the back of the room. She knocked three times and the door swung open to reveal an office, crammed high with shelves covered in neatly labelled boxes. At the back of the room was another door, but in front of that was a desk, her little brother Hugo sat behind it, shifting through papers.

'Shut the door behind you.' He said, without looking up. She did so with a gentle click then went to sit in the hard-backed chair in front of the desk, knowing better than to interrupt him.

Both Weasley children had inherited their mother's enviable brains, her motivation and dedication. But, much to Mrs Granger-Weasley's despair, neither of her children had followed her into academia as she had hoped. Rose, she had long ago given up trying to take an interest in anything but quidditch, but she had had higher hopes for her young son, who was kind and hardworking, loyal to the hilt, and equally as stubborn as his big sister.

No-one quite knew when the Hogwarts' Underground Recreational Club first began. Hugo claimed that it was the founder's themselves who had sanctioned it, creating these rooms well away from prying eyes. There were strong enchantments around the Club, rather like the Room of Requirement. Only those meaning no harm, either to the club, or to each other, could enter. Rose's own parents had probably been too busy saving the wizarding world to come across it, but she knew Roxy's dad had been a member in his later years at Hogwarts, as had his friend Lee Jordan.

'Ah Rose, how are you doing?' Hugo's smile was warm and welcoming, despite the less than legal surroundings. But then, that was her brother, kind to a fault. There was no wonder really, that he was a Hufflepuff. One of Rose's earliest memories was him picking up ladybirds trapped inside the greenhouse at The Lodge and taking them to the bottom of the garden to be free.

'Hello brother mine', Rose smiled. 'How's business?'

'Not bad, not bad.' He grinned. 'Everyone's stocking up after a summer away. Plus, lots of people want to let off a bit of steam after a summer of behaving at home. Celia Raventhorpe out there,' he nodded his head towards the door, 'had to spend the summer at her family's stately home in Devonshire, so she's practically throwing money away.'

'And, of course, you take a certain percentage.' Rose laughed. 'I will never understand how someone so nice as you can be so devious.'

'I'm just lucky that way.' He opened a drawer and dropped the organised files into it. 'So, Rosie, what can I help you with today?'

'Information.' She replied.

'I thought you were above 'cheating'', he sketched air quotations around the word, 'I thought you said quidditch was a sacred sport and only the weak cheated.'

'And I still mean it.' She leant forward. 'I'm not asking for you to reveal tactics and team line-ups. My team is prepared for any eventuality, and we do not need to resort to cheap blackmail and spying.'

'Then what do you want?' He laced together his fingers, looking intrigued. 'Don't tell me this has something to do with something other than quidditch?'

'What else is there but quidditch?' She replied, only half-jokingly. 'No, I want you to keep an eye out of these people', she reached into a pocket of her robes and pulled out a sheet of parchment covered in names in her spidery writing. 'I may not be cheating but they sure will. So if they come here asking for Felix Felicis, or reflex increasing potions, lucky charms or concealment runes, I need to know.'

Hugo considered for a moment, leaning his chin against his laced fingers. 'While it is an interesting proposition, it would also be a conflict of interest. My customers come to me in the knowledge that I operate with complete discretion. If Flint or Ives, or indeed any of these names', he gestured to the list in front of him, 'Comes to me, I can hardly tell you.'

'Please Hugo! You know I'd never be as foolish as to tattle of them or anything. I just need to be prepared. It may even not happen, mostly my fellow captains are pretty honourable. But with this competition, I need to be sure.'

Hugo watched his sister for a full minute as she sat beseechingly in front of him, then, mind made up, opened a draw and took out a piece of parchment. From a pot on the desk he took a quill, dipped it in the ink, and began to write.

'Payment-' he said as he continued to write. 'I want your sneakerscope. The really powerful one that sits in your quidditch locker room, that uncle Neville gave you for your eleventh birthday.'

She debated for a moment, but conceded. That sneakerscope prevented people spying on her team talks, and detected nefarious plots, but in the end, she could always get another. Rose, who was familiar with her brother's pedantic ways, watched as he outlined their contract. They both signed, then he tapped the parchment with his wand so that the ink was visible only to them, and the deal was struck.

'I'll get the sneakerscope to you before breakfast tomorrow.' She said, standing up and accepting her copy of the contract.

'You'd better, or I may just be liable to sell as much Felix Felicis as I can stock to Stuart Flint before your first match.' He teased.

 **...**

 **Gryffindor Tower**

 **23:oo hours**

 **...**

'Where have you been?' Scorpius asked, looking up from where he was feverishly leafing through Magical Water Plants of Britain and Ireland. 'Curfew was two hours ago.'

She sank into the chair next to him and glanced around the mostly deserted common room, then down at his essay: _Gillyweed: growth, properties, uses and regulations._ She had finished it that morning over breakfast.

'Covering our arses.' She replied, pulling out her own essay. 'I've bribed Hugo into keeping an eye on things.'

'And how likely is he to actually honour that?' Scorpius asked, beginning to write again. 'He is a Hufflepuff, and on the quidditch team. Seems like a conflict of interest to me.'

'I'm hoping', Rose said with a sigh, 'That he won't mix business and personal feeling. But what can one do? Do you want me to finish your essay for you?'

'No, I'm almost done thanks.' His quill continued to scratch against the parchment. 'I took your advice and asked Lizzie for help, and she went through it with me.'

Rose felt an uncommon raw feeling of jealousy fall into the pit of her stomach but managed to banish it. 'I bet Al had apoplexy!' She laughed half-heartedly.

'Well, he doesn't technically know, and it was a onetime thing anyway. But she did help a lot.'

The quill continued to scratch for a moment, then was sat down.

'Finished.' He said, and blew on the ink to make it dry.

Rose bit her lip. 'Scorp?'

'Hm?'

'I ran into Isabelle the other day. She, she wanted me to tell you that she hopes you can still both be friends.'

His hands stilled on the parchment he was rolling up.

'She said that?'

'Yes. And I think she means it Scorp, she seems pretty cut up about it.'

A moment's silence.

'I asked her if we could get back together yesterday.' Scorpius said slowly, not looking at Rose who felt her face flush.

'And what did she say?' She asked too quickly and Scorpius looked up at her.

'She said no.'

They looked at each other for a moment, and again Rose had that feeling, that sudden desire to lean forwards, to cross that easy distance between them and feel his lips against his own. He watching her too, but with a wry smile twisting his mouth into a crooked, half-sad smile.

She hastily looked away.

'Are you okay?' She asked, playing with the strap of her bag so as to avoid looking at him.

'I don't know.' He answered truthfully. 'But I think I will be. I just- I think I just need some time to get over her, that's all.'

Whether this was meant for himself, or her, Rose couldn't tell. But it was enough to stain her cheeks scarlet with embarrassment, and she hastily stood up.

'Well, good night then. I better get up to bed. Early start and all that.'

'Rose?' He looked confused. 'Is everything okay?'

'Fine.' She answered too fast, then forced herself to relax. 'I'm sorry, I'm just tired.'

'Of course.' He still looked a little puzzled, so she tried again. 'You look like you could use a hug.'

'That I could', he stood too, pushing the rest of his books into his bag.

When he wrapped his arms around her, she laid her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes, wishing they could stay that way forever. He held her for longer than usual, but it was not long enough for Rose, and then he was stepping back.

'Goodnight Rosie.' He walked to the staircase to the boy's dormitory and vanished up them, leaving Rose standing in the middle of the deserted common room, her heart still pounding, her skin flushed.

Then she headed upstairs to her dormitory.

* * *

A.N.

Chapter 6 my! my!

This story is going to be approximately 25 chapters in length, with updates every Sunday if I can manage it! As you have probably noticed, the chapters are getting longer in length as the plot arrives.

Next chapter we will be following the rest of Rose's wonderful quidditch team and getting to know them a bit better too!

What did you think of Hugo and his club?

How is the Scorpius/Rose relationship progressing?

How successful do you think The Rules are going to be?

Let me know!

Review!

Love and hugs,

A.A.A.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

 **1st October**

 **The Gryffindor Common Room**

 **07:00 hours**

 **...**

'Rose, you have to ease up okay? We've only been back a month and I'm already worried that you're going to burn out.'

Scorpius had joined her on the last five kilometres of her daily run that morning, having adamantly refused to get up at five o'clock, despite her insistent poking. _('You and Mack are the only ones interested in this bloody competition - go run with him if it's so bloody important and let me sleep before I hex you!')_

Mack actually had offered to run with her a few times, but Rose had always turned him down. She wasn't quite sure why either, as their breakups had always been reasonably pleasant and perfectly mature. The seventh years all hung out together too much for awkwardness and taking sides. Besides, last she'd heard, he'd been hooking up with Amity Chang from Ravenclaw.

Now, as they sat in the Common Room waiting for Albus to stagger out of bed, Scorpius turned to his friend with concern on his face.

'I'm serious Rose. I know you want this, but it shouldn't be at the expense of your health.'

'I don't want this.' She replied. 'I need this. It doesn't matter what I have to give up to win.'

'You don't come to parties anymore. When was the last time you had fun? Proper fun, not just training.' He retorted.

She cocked her head to the side, watching him through hooded eyes. 'I know people think I'm strange, but I don't care. Just because no-one believe people our age can be serious about their futures, doesn't mean we have to prove them right.'

'Just promise me okay? If you end up in the Hospital Wing form exhaustion-'

'I'm not going to end up in the hospital wing from exhaustion!' She laughed. 'I calculate the exact amount of sleep I need every night so my body has enough time to recuperate. I eat more healthily than you do by a long way. If anyone's going to burn out it will be you. I notice you pulled another all-nighter last night.'

'Bloody Herbology. It's going to kill me.' He groused as Albus finally staggered down the stairs from the boy's dormitory, rubbing sleep from his eyes and his robes on backwards.

'Head's meeting, patrols and I had to finish a horrible rune translation', he moaned as he righted his glasses on his nose. 'I was up 'til three.' He turned to Scorpius. 'You were up later than I was, how are you even conscious?'

'I haven't been to bed yet', Scorpius admitted and then began to traipse towards the portrait hole. 'I am entirely fuelled by caffeine and poor life choices at the moment.'

The portrait hole swung open and Albus clambered through. Rose was about to follow him when Scorpius caught her arm.

'Listen to me Rose, I worry because I care. But you need more in your life than just quidditch, believe me, it's not going to be healthy in the long run.'

Rose ignored him.

 **...**

 **The Hallways**

 **09:00 hours**

 **...**

Lily was juggling an armful of heavy textbooks and at least nine rolls of parchment when an loose shoelace became her undoing and she cannoned into something hard halfway along the second floor corridor. Giving up the effort to defy gravity, she let the books tumble to the ground and sat down hard with a muffled _oomph!_ parchment spilling in all directions. Looking up through the curtain of red that had obscured her eyes during her fall she found, not a suit of armour as she had expected, but Keegan who had been hurrying in the opposite direction, nose buried in The Standard Book of Spells, Grade Seven.

Lily muttered something inelegant and began to crawl around, picking up the books, systematically checking her wristwatch.

'I'm really sorry Lily', Keegan knelt down next to her and began gathering the rolls of parchment into a pyramid. 'I didn't even see you!'

'Some chaser you are', she teased, reaching for his copy of The Standard Book of Spells and handing it back to him. He reached to pick up her pile of books, but she stopped him. 'No, don't bother. Wingardium Leviosa.'

The books and parchment rose into the air and hovered by Lily's shoulder.

'I probably should have done that to begin with', she said ruefully. 'But I'm running late for Transfiguration and you know what Turpin is like.'

'A point for every minute, Miss Weasley. You waste my time, and I shall waste yours.' Keegan imitated, sucking in his face as though there was something sour on his tongue.

Lily let out a snort.

'I wouldn't worry about being late.' He continued, changing direction so they could walk side by side towards the Transfiguration classroom. 'Mack and Amity are having a massive row in the Great Hall at the moment, and then Mack's friend - that stupid blond one who looks part troll-'

'Stanley Bibbington-Smythe?'

'That's the one. Anyway, he thought it would be a simply brilliant idea to hex Amity's friend Rufus, but his aim is about as good as Flint's is and he missed and hit the Hufflepuff hour glass, and there were diamonds everywhere! Then Amity's other friend Celia put levicorpus on Stanley, and it sort of descended from there really. Turpin came hurrying out of the Great Hall and skidded across most of the Entrance Hall on the diamonds and _then_ Peeves turned up and started lobbing them at the crowds of people watching.'

He checked his watch.

'So, all in all, I reckon you could probably go and visit Hagrid for a bit and still make to Transfiguration on time.' He finished.

Lily snorted with laughter again as they cut through a door pretending to be wall and began to climb the stone steps hidden beyond it.

'Is it wrong of me that I kind of hope that McClaggen gets hexed badly enough to be too injured to train with us anymore?' Lily asked as they emerged onto the third floor corridor from behind a moth-eaten tapestry.

'Nah', Keegan said easily, running a hand through his curly hair. 'Even Rose agrees he's a total prat, and she hasn't had to share a dormitory with him for six years! But he is a damn good keeper, and I suppose that makes up for a lot.'

'Shame really, isn't it? How some people have all this talent and a head too big to get off the ground? I was watching that fourth year, Alex Simpson I think his name was, at tryouts. A lot of potential I thought. It's a shame McClaggen out flew him.' She added sourly, as they reached the door to the Transfiguration room. Judging by the amount of noise emanating from behind the closed door, Keegan had been right and the class hadn't started yet.

'Ah well', Keegan said easily, 'You win some, you lose some. He's not that bad', he added, on seeing her sceptical face. 'I know you don't like him because he calls you Red in that patronizing tone of his, but in our year we kind of just take him with a pinch of salt.'

'At least this year he won't start mooning over Rose again.' Lily let the stack of textbooks that had been peacefully floated just behind her throughout their climb drop into her arms, the pyramid of parchment neatly stacking themselves on top. 'Usually I moan and groan like anything about Rose's rules, but I think the no inter-team dating one is probably a good idea. No awkward breakups and team friction and all that.'

'Oh.' Said Keegan.

Lily noticed his sudden silence, and accounted for it by asking: 'Crap! Aren't you really late for your class? You didn't have to walk my to class you know.'

'What? Oh, that's alright. I have History of Magic now so Binns won't even notice if I walk in half way through.'

'You take N. E. W. T. History of Magic?' Lily mimed strangling herself with her tie. 'Urgh. I hate History of Magic almost as much as McClaggen! In fact', she dramatically looked over both her shoulders in mock secrecy. It's the only class I'm failing. But shh, don't tell anyone.'

'I promise, I won't.' Keegan smiled. 'You know, I could tutor you if you wanted? I mean, not to be presumptuous or anything-'

He stopped and flushed slightly, pushing his glasses up his nose.

'You're such a nerd', Lily said, but in a nice way. 'I would be incredibly grateful if you could help me. History and potions are the two sore spots on an otherwise perfect records.'

'Potions I can't do anything about, but I guarantee if you let me tutor you, you'll get an Outstanding in your O. W. L.'

'It's a deal.' With some manoeuvring Lily managed to extricate her hand from under the pile of books and they shook hands. Before he could pull away however, she added:

'And if there is anything you ever need that I can help with, not that that's likely, you cash in, yeah?'

'Sure'. Keegan smiled as they both stepped back, hearing the familiar clack-clack of Professor Turpin's shoes against the stone floor.

'Got to go', Lily said, pushing open the door to the classroom. 'But seriously Keegan, I owe you one.'

She vanished into the classroom and the door swung closed behind her as Professor Turpin hurried into view, looking harassed. Keegan hastily ducked behind a suit of armour as she burst into the classroom, the noise level dropping at least thirty decibels at her entrance.

Keegan pushed his book into his bag, then stuck his hands into his pockets and set off for History of Magic, whistling. Even bumping into Peeves on the moving staircase wasn't enough to dent his good mood and when he arrived at Binn's classroom, covered in chalk dust, he was quite right. Binns didn't notice him at all.

 **...**

 **The Hallways**

 **12:57 hours**

 **...**

Lucy Weasley was hurrying towards the staircase in an attempt to beat the masses to lunch when a trip jinx missed her by inches and hit a nearby suit of armour. The streak of light rebounded and was absorbed by the tapestry opposite. Lucy drew her wand in time to block a second jinx and craned her neck to see who had cast it.

Lucy's scowl deepened when she saw Tommy Tillian appear around a corner, his not inconsiderable bulk filling the corridor.

'Hello Lucy-Toilet-Head', he grinned, and Lucy took a hasty step backwards, wishing she'd taken her cousin Rose's advice and started carrying her beater's bat with her at all times. One nice swing, and she could dive through the secret passageway beside the urn at the end of the corridor before Tillian worked out what had happened. Though, she took one disparaging look at the forth year, at his two chins and the greasy napkin in the hand that was not holding his wand, she rather thought that her bat might simply be absorbed into the rolls of fat, never to see the light of day again.

Lucy was about to start feeling guilty for her thoughts about his weight when Tillian reached down and yanked hard on one of her ginger plaits. Immediately she stopped feeling sorry for him.

'What do you want Tillian? Don't you have some first years to go and bully?'

'Nope.' As Lucy tried to push by him, Tillian stuck out an arm, effectively blocking the corridor.

'I can't believe you're a year older than me', Lucy said from between gritted teeth. 'You act like a bloody toddler.'

'Such language my dear toilet.' He laughed and the fat wobbled slightly.

'Let me through.' Lucy clutched her wand more tightly in her hand, wondering if, if the heat of the moment, she could actually remember how to cast something. The only spells that were circling through her brain where Alohamora, Lumos, and the Jelly-Legs Jinx, none of which would exactly be much help. The prickling feeling of nervous sweat erupted on her palms. She hated being alone with Tillian. He had always had it in for her, and seemed to take an unusual delight in tormenting the younger girl.

'Yeah', he growled, no longer laughing. 'And let you run off to your scheming friends. I know it was you who tattled on me to Marchling last week about Ruthie Maxwell. Don't lie!' he added when she opened her mouth. 'I know your stupid sister's her friend and she deserved it! She cheeked me.'

'She said that if you ate less you might be happier and have some friends', Lucy snapped back. 'Which I thought showed great perspicacity for a first year. And-' she stuck her wand into his chest, '-Don't you dare talk about my sister like that!'

Lucy was quite aware that she was probably only making things worse for her sister who, as a lowly first year, had less standing in Ravenclaw Tower than the fourth year Tommy Tillian. But everyone knew Tillian had a history of bullying the younger kids, and enough of the students had younger siblings to make him universally disliked.

'Why? What are you going to do?' He sneered. 'Shout at me a bit more? Stamp your foot? Hex me? We both know you don't have the stones. Go on Lucy-Loo, I dare you!'

Her annoyance at the petty name calling aside - and really, how unoriginal could you get? - Lucy steeled herself.

'No. But I will tell Rose Weasley that you want to lose weight.'

She narrowed her eyes and tried to look as threatening as possible which was difficult as, even without his bulk, Tillian was at least a foot taller than she was.

'And you know my dear cousin', Lucy carried on. 'She trained in Russian last summer. I'm sure she's picked up some _interesting_ tips from the Russian national coach. Tips like four am starts and twenty mile runs. You might even be happier after a year of hard dieting and Rose's intensive fitness regime.'

Tillian laughed, but Lucy could tell that her cousin's reputation was making him uneasy.

'And that's not to mention', Lucy saw her advantage and pushed the knife home. 'She's pretty much the favourite student of all the teachers here, _and_ she's the daughter of Hermione Granger-Weasley who's tipped to be the next Mistress of Magic. I dread to think was Rose is capable of.'

'Are you threatening me Toilet-Head?' Tillian hissed, reaching out and grabbing her braid again. He gave it another hard yank and Lucy felt tears of pain prick her eyes. She blinked them back and retorted: 'I'm telling you to leave my sister alone, or you'll make an enemy of one of the most dangerous students at Hogwarts.'

His grip slackened and she darted under his arm, stepping sharply out of reach. She was already hurrying away down the corridor when he yelled after her.

'Rose Weasley isn't always going to be around to save your neck _Loo-Roll._ Then you'd better watch your back.'

She darted into an alcove as a third jinx missed her - really, how bad was this boy's aim? - and twisted the urn clockwise. The stone wall split open behind her as, unmistakably, came the sound of the shuffling feet of the ancient caretaker Argus Filch, and the soft meows of his cat.

Lucy hears him croon: 'Miscreants using magic in the corridors, my sweet. We'll catch them and chain them up by their thumbs', but she was already clambering through the hole in the wall and scurrying away down the stone steps. The light of the corridor faded away, as the wall closed behind her.

 **...**

 **The Great Hall**

 **13:07 hours**

 **...**

When Lucy entered the Great Hall and began to walk towards the Gryffindor table, she saw at once that the girls from her dormitory had not resolved their fight from that morning as they were all pointedly not looking at each other. Changing direction with the speed of a bludger, she headed for the Ravenclaw table after checking that Tillian was not there, and swung down into a seat next to her sister.

Ruthie, sat opposite, saw Lucy's face and said: 'Let me guess, you're the reason Filch is dragging Tommy Tillian to Professor Turpin's office by the ear.'

Lucy managed a weak smile and began to make a sandwich, layering cheese, ham, pickle and salad in between three pieces of bread.

'One day', she advised around a mouthful of bread, 'That smart mouth of yours is going to get you into trouble.' She took another bite. 'It never fails to amaze me how you Ravenclaws are supposed to be the intelligent ones.'

'Well, if you're going to be rude', Molly took a delicate bite of her own lunch, 'You can always go and sit with your bolshy Gryffindor buddies.'

'Sorry Mols', Lucy said with a rueful smile. 'They haven't resolved their fight from this morning yet and I really don't want to have to pick sides.'

'What's happened now?' Ruthie asked eagerly, accidentally putting her elbow in the butter. 'Your dorm mates are better than an episode of Unseen City on the WWN!'

'I didn't think anything was better than your stupid radio dramas', Molly sniffed disparagingly, taking another bite.

'Hey!' Ruthie immediately fired up. 'Robbie's just been murdered and Aurors are tracking down a rogue unspeakable, and last week they revealed that Leanne's baby isn't Simon's-'

'Unseen City aside', Lucy cut across the two younger students before Molly could retaliate. 'I was up early this morning to go running with Rose, so I only heard the end of it but from what I can make out Violet 'borrowed' Mary's new sparkly eye-shadow without asking.'

'And what's so bad about that?' Molly asked, setting down her cutlery with a slight clink. 'The girls in your dormitory are always swapping clothes and makeup.'

'The problem was', Lucy continued, 'then Ella 'borrowed' it from Violet and dropped it which broke up all the colours. So then Ella tried to get Letty to fix it and she sort of did, but the colours went all murky so Ella tried to sneak it back to Violet, who tried to sort the colours out but just ended up turning them all red.'

'I'm sure Mary couldn't fail to notice that.' Ruthie laughed. 'So what happened then?'

'So Mary tried to get Bea to ice Ella and Violet out, but both Bea and Letty told Mary she was being really hypocritical because last week Mary 'borrowed' Ella's Herbology notes and spilt pumpkin juice all over them.'

'So now you're sitting here with us so you don't get hit by flying food.' Molly said. 'Honestly, I hope hormones never invade our dormitory. You guys were all really good friends last year.'

'They'll sort themselves out eventually.' Lucy wiped a finger in the spilt pickle on her plate then stuck it into her mouth.

'Oh!' Ruthie suddenly pointed her finger dramatically at Lucy. Confused, Lucy glanced behind her, but couldn't see anything at all out of the ordinary.

'What?'

'You changed the subject', Molly answered for her friend. 'You didn't tell us why Tommy Tillian is currently being threatened with disembowelment by Filch.'

Lucy felt her pulse quicken again with anger.

'He wanted to teach me a lesson after I went to Marchling after he broke ink over all your books last week. It seems he guessed it was me and wanted revenge. I just wish he'd leave me alone.' She added dismally.

There was a silence, then Molly spoke.

'He's a nasty bully, but it is odd how he always victimizes you, especially when you're one of the only people who actually stands up to him. He likes to torment the younger years because it makes him feel powerful, so logically if you keep standing up to him he should eventually leave you alone.'

'I don't think it's that at all', Ruthie interjected. 'I think he fancies you Lucy, but he doesn't know how to act around normal human beings so he pulls your hair and calls you names to get your attention.'

Before Lucy could deny all claims of being even remotely fanciable, the doors swung open and Tillian strode in, heading for an empty space at the Ravenclaw table. When he saw the two Weasley sisters and Ruth Maxwell watching him, he scowled, though as he hurried past Lucy could see that the back of his neck was bright red.

'Even if he does fancy Lucy, that is absolutely no excuse.' Molly answered. 'His behaviour is not acceptable whether he's in love or not.' All too often people use love as an excuse for horrific behaviour.'

 _'Love?'_ Lucy spluttered. 'Who said anything about _love_?'

'Molly's right', Ruthie added, reaching for her goblet of juice. 'It shouldn't change anything.'

Lucy craned her neck, looking along the table to where Tillian was sat alone, a book propped open in front of him to hide his face.

'You're right, it doesn't make a difference.' Lucy conceded. 'I'd want him to change because he realised what he is doing is wrong, not because he thinks it will impress me.'

'I feel really guilty though.' Lucy continued, setting down her sandwich with a sigh. 'Whenever he's horrible to me I always retaliate about his weight, even though I know that's cruel.'

'I always wonder-' Molly said in her sage little way, '-where the line is. To torment anyone is wrong of course, but when you are relentlessly attacked it becomes difficult to simply walk away without making the situation more complex. Obviously, the mature and logical solution would be to ignore him and wait for him to get bored. But if what we hypothesised is correct then that is unlikely to be successful in your case. Therefore one must ask themselves: Is it worse to attack someone because of their hair colour, as he does to you, or their weight, as you did to him. I think often people are too politically correct about certain aspects of one's appearance, but discard any thought for others.'

'Ergo, society doesn't punish you for laughing at someone's hair colour, but reviles you for fat-shaming.' Finished Ruthie.

Lucy couldn't ever remember using Latin in everyday conversation, especially as a first year, but supposed it was the Ravenclaw touch.

'So was I right or wrong?'

'What I'm trying to say', Molly said, looking so much like their father that it made Lucy smile, 'is that society imposes a sliding scale on our internal moral compass. Yes, you have hair the colour of carrots. There is very little you can do about it. Yes, Tillian is obese. This is affecting his health and happiness. There is a difference, but it is only up to him to decide to change that.'

Molly noticed her sister's slightly befuddled face and smiled.

'You were right to stand up for yourself, but it is wrong to exploit someone's insecurities, no matter how foul they are. The complexity lies in his personality, not his appearance.'

'What Molly is trying to say', supplied Ruthie, 'Is next time insult his mind, not his body.'

'No Ruthie, that's not what I'm saying at all', Molly sighed.

Molly and Lucy finally let the subject drop and Lucy finished her lunch in peace. There were a lot of bonuses to avoiding her warring dorm mates, and at least the conversation at the Ravenclaw table contained words of more than two syllables. But Lucy sometimes wished that Molly wasn't quite _so_ intelligent. There was a lot to be said for the mundane, and it didn't get much more mundane than red sparkly eye-shadow.

 **...**

 **The Hallways**

 **21:oo hours**

 **...**

Alex Simpson was the kind of boy who didn't say very much.

For many years his parents had thought he couldn't, and then _wouldn't._ They enticed, bribed, ordered and threatened in equal measures. Then, at seven years of age, it turned out that Alexander Simpson could speak perfectly well, he just didn't want to.

So then began a procession of doctors and healer - for between his muggle father and witch mother, they never could agree - therapists and specialists until, at age eleven, Alec could speak as well as anyone.

That is not to say he did it all the time though. His fellow fourth years had become accustomed to his silence, and had learnt over the years that he was a nice boy, and not at all standoffish as they had first thought. He simply just didn't have that much to say.

So when Erin was caught sneaking out of Gryffindor Tower just after curfew by Alex Simpson, she knew he wouldn't say anything. But still, as she hurried off to her destination, she worried that those dark eyes understood more than she wished.

 **...**

 **The Hallways**

 **22:oo hours**

 **...**

Rose and Scorpius were employing the Marauder's Map - stolen from Uncle Harry by James, pinched from James by Lily, blackmailed from Lily by Hugo, confiscated from Hugo by Albus, extracted from Albus by Rose - in an attempt to sneak back up to Gryffindor Tower without being spotted by Filch, or worse, Peeves. The prefects were less of an issue, and mostly let the rules slide for the seventh years. Anyway, _Merlin help_ the prefect who interrupted Rose's training schedule by trying to put her in detention.

They were sneaking through the Entrance Hall, brooms over their shoulders, returning from a late night training session, when they turned the corner and crashed straight into the last two people Rose or Scorpius had ever expected to see. Isabelle Summers, hands in hand with the Hufflepuff captain, Marco Ives.

Rose wondered for a moment is Scorpius was going to be sick again, like in yesterday's practise when he hadn't noticed the bludger in time and got concussion.

'Weasley. Malfoy.' Ives said awkwardly.

Scorpius opened his mouth, then closed it, his face oddly blank.

'Scorpius, I-' Isabelle started, but then looked down at her shoes, leaving her half-started sentence hanging there between them.

Scorpius was so pale that he didn't blush, but his cheeks had flushed pink, and the knuckles of the hand clutching his broom were taut and white as the blood left them.

It was all so awkward, and so confusing, and Rose felt so desperately sorry for her best friend that she did the only thing that she could think of.

'Was that Peeves?' She invented wildly, glancing over her shoulders. 'Come on, we better run before we all end up in detention.'

It was a lie, and not even a very good one, but Scorpius seized onto it like a life raft.

'We'd better run, need to get to the tower before we get caught.'

He suddenly reached out and grabbed Rose's hand, pulling her past the two Hufflepuffs and up onto the stairs.

'Scorpius, listen to me-' Isabelle called out after them. 'I'm sorry, I never meant you to find out like this-'

But they were already gone, running along the first floor corridor until they found their secret passageway. Rose was faster than Scorpius, and normally she would have raced him. But tonight she simply kept pace with him, feeling her heart beat all the way down to the tips of her fingers which were still clasped in his.

* * *

A.N.

Though officially a Scorpius/Rose story, I really wanted to follow all of the members of the quidditch team, and what they're up to throughout this story, so Lily, Erin, Keegan and Lucy will be popping up quite a lot!

Important Disclaimer: Lucy's run in with Tommy Tillian raised some interesting questions regarding fat-shaming for me, and I want to clarify here that I do not believe that insulting anyone because of their weight is acceptable. But I also feel that society does assign more blame to certain insults about appearance than others. Therefore I want to say that the views and opinions expressed by characters within this chapter in no way express the views and opinions of the author.

For those reading outside of the UK, Loo is a colloquialism for toilet, along with facilities, bogs, privy, and spending a penny.

...

What did you make of Molly and Ruthie?

Do we think Scorpius will ever get over Isabelle?

Is Rose going to sacrifice everything for her quidditch dreams?

Let me know!

Review!

Update next week,

Love and Hugs

A.A.A.


	8. Chapter 8

**A.N.**

 **The new update as promised, and on the Sunday to boot! See? I always keep my promises. Always.**

 **Main A.N. at the end.**

 **Warning for some language.**

* * *

Chapter Eight

 **...**

 **20th October**

 **The Great Hall**

 **07:oo hours**

 **...**

The day of the first match of the season, Gryffindor verses Slytherin, was damp and drizzly, but the winds that had been whipping through the grounds and along the draughty corridors had blown out. Rose was glad of the lack of wind which always made the bludgers unpredictable, but the rain was the kind that soaked you to the skin in a matter of seconds. Still, her team had been flying in much worse.

It seemed that the competition had added an additional layer of tension to the students that morning. Rose was most worried for her new additions to the team, having never seen how well they performed under public scrutiny. Surprisingly, Lucy was the calmest of the all and was happily working her way through a large pile of scrambled eggs. Scorpius was as unruffled as ever, and Lily merely looked ready to take on Stuart Flint, the Slytherin keeper. Erin too, looked reasonably uninterested by the jeering Slytherins as they passed the Gryffindor table, and was scribbling something on a piece of parchment she had pulled from her pocket.

Mack was, _well_ , Mack. He had chosen to sit next to Rose this morning, and kept leaning over into her space no matter how much she kept sliding up towards Scorpius. Mack's flailing arms aside, Rose was keeping a firm eye on Keegan, sat opposite next to Al.

His over-long dark curly hair was springing in every direction from the number of times he had run his hands through it, and he kept shoving his glasses up his nose, something he only did when nervous. In fact, with the glasses pushing, and the grabbing whole handfuls of his hair, and the greenish tinge to his otherwise tan cheeks, he looked like he might simply pass out if Rose handed him a broomstick. He continued to stare at the plate of food that Lily had placed in front of him, as though waiting for Nearly-Headless Nick's nearly-neck less head to appear from the centre of the golden platter.

It was more with a sense of saving Keegan from himself, than any real wish for the team to warm up, that Rose eventually stood up and ordered her players down to the pitch. She lagged slightly behind, wanting to speak to Hugo as he left the Great Hall after breakfast.

'What are the odds?' She asked without preamble and he, all business, pulled out a folded piece of parchment, scanning down the neat lists of names.

'You're the favourite, obviously.' He answered. 'And while I cannot reveal any personal information, other than what you've already bribed out of me - thanks for the sneakerscope by the way, I caught the miscreant who was breaking into my office - it looks like most people are thinking that the Slytherin chasers will put up a good fight, but Malfoy will get the snitch.'

'When are you going to start calling him Scorpius? He does practically live at our house during the holidays.' Rose and Hugo paused in the Entrance Hall, continuing their conversation before parting to go their separate ways; Hugo to head to his office for some last minute business before the start of the match, and Rose to the Gryffindor changing rooms to prep her team.

'He is S. Malfoy when I am working', he said simply, folding away the parchment and slipping it out of sight into his robes before a nearby Ravenclaw prefect could get too interested. 'Just as you are R. Weasley Jr. I am impartial in all things.'

'You sound middle aged', she retorted, though softening her words with a laugh. 'And why am I R. Weasley Jr.? I am nobody's _junior!'_

'It's a tie over from last year when Roxy was still here. I haven't had chance to update my records yet.' He smiled. 'Going to break the habit of a lifetime and put money on the match?'

'No fear', she smiled. 'I am far too sensible to pay you your forty per cent commission.'

'Ah', he smiled fondly at his sister. 'You actually read my small print. Good luck today.'

'Thanks.'

 **...**

 **Outside the Changing Rooms**

 **10:45 hours**

 **...**

'Rose, oi! Rosie, wait a second.'

Rose was about to enter the Gryffindor changing room to join the rest of her team when the door flew open and Mack pushed his way out, resolutely closing the door behind him.

Rose briefly asked Morgana for patience, then turned towards him.

'You have exactly one and a half minutes before I need to be in there, prepping my team which includes you, so what do you want?'

'Are you coming to Hogsmeade with me this weekend?'

That was one of the things, Rose decided, that she had always liked about Mack. Well, that and that _really_ clever thing he could do with his tongue. There was no beating around the bush, no uncertainty, no awkwardness, not like there was with her and Scorpius. It was frankly a shame that he was such an unpalatable person in real life because on paper he was almost perfect.

'No.' She answered, with an equal lack of loquacious side-stepping. 'Now get inside, I need to brief you.'

She made to move past him but he blocked her way, and Rose very much debated knocking him out with her beater's bat, but decided that, good though the rest of the team were, they would probably lose should they play without a keeper.

'Why not?' He demanded, 'We've always gotten together before the first match of the season, ever since fourth year.'

'And for those years', she answered with forced patience, 'that was fine because you were not a member of my quidditch team.'

'You're seriously not going out with me over some dumb rule?' Mack seemed incredulous. 'If I was your precious Malfoy you'd throw that rule out of the window, wouldn't you?'

'Scorpius has nothing to do with this', Rose replied, and oddly enough, completely truthfully. 'You and I are a poor fit, and I am too busy this year to even contemplate a relationship. Especially one as dysfunctional as ours have been over the years.'

'That's bull', he retorted, 'You just think that if you're with me then Malfoy will be frightened off and-'

'You're talking more crap than a dung beetle', Rose fired back, her temper finally boiling over. 'I do not have to justify my decision to you. I have said no, and that is the end of it. Now get inside the bloody changing room before I hex you!'

Mack stormed past her, banging the changing room door closed behind him in a display of pettiness most toddlers would have been proud of.

Rose took one long breathe and lent against the wall. The changing rooms were built under the hundreds of rows of seats, beneath the four taller towers in the individual house colours, and above her head she could hear the stamping of hundreds of feet. Such was the popularity of quidditch that, despite the drizzly rain, she knew well that the entire school would be in those stands, cheering and booing in turn.

The thought five minutes ago would have made her blood thrum with uncontrollable excitement, but now she was actually slightly shaken by her encounter with Mack. She had always known that he wasn't actively the most mature of the seventh years, but to see him jealous was another thing entirely. Maybe their previous relationships hadn't been as superficial as she had presumed.

A cough broke her out of her revelry and she looked up from her hands, absently twirling her beater's bat, to see Findley, wearing an enormous overcoat, a pair of binoculars strung around his neck.

The water glittering on his skin only made him look more handsome, and his smile was bright, his blue eyes warm despite the weather, and when he grinned at her, she saw that chipped tooth which stopped him from looking too perfect. Perfection aside, it gave him a cheerful, mischievous look that only made him more good looking; and judging by the whispers and giggles emanating from a group of third year girls, huddled under an umbrella, Rose was not the only one to think this.

'Nicely handled.'

'What?' Rose said distractedly, gazing at him. Was she imagining it, or was there something slightly familiar about him? Maybe she had bumped into him at a match when she was a child. She pushed the feeling away. After all, she had seen Findley almost every day since arriving back at Hogwarts, and he obviously hadn't known her.

'With the cretin.'

'Cretin? Oh, you mean McClaggen. Oh he's just an idiot, but we've dated on and off for years so he probably thought this year would be the same.'

Findley was still watching her, so she added: 'It's fine, he's a prat, but he's reasonably harmless.'

He didn't look hugely convinced, but, when she rolled her eyes, he let out a laugh. 'Good luck today Rose.'

'Thanks.' There was pause while Findley continued to scrutinise her, and when the moment felt awkward, she added: 'I should probably go, I need to brief my team before the match starts.'

'Of course.' She was about to step past him when he caught her arm. 'As a member of staff, we're not meant to have favourites. But if I did, it would be you.'

Rose barely had time to notice that, up this close, Findley's tan was slightly uneven, and that his nose had definitely been broken on at least three different occasions judging by the number of dints in it, and that his hands were so large that the one holding her could wrap entirely around her arm and touch the other side with room to spare.

She wondered if he noticed her the same way she noticed him.

 **...**

 **The Quidditch Pitch**

 **13:oo hours**

 **...**

The match had dragged on for two hours when Scorpius finally caught his first glimpse of the snitch. The ruddy thing had been invisible through the steadily increasing rain, and when, with the leap of heart that always accompanied the sighting, he had glimpsed a speck of gold it had turned out to be Flint's wristwatch, or else the galleons that had fallen out of McClaggen's pockets when he had executed the Starfish and Stick to save a particularly feeble attack from Mercury Bullstrode. It was as though the snitch had simply vanished, and while Scorpius had complete faith in most of the Gryffindor team, which one notable exception, he also knew that a great deal of the pressure of winning lay on his own, soggy shoulders.

The crowd cheered as McClaggen pulled off another spectacular save and Scorpius scowled through the rain, desperately scanning the pitch through the rain. And then- _there!_ \- and he was diving, Trevor Warrington hot on his tail.

Scorpius was a good seeker, even excellent, but he had reacted too quickly, and the Slytherin seeker had noticed. Really, he should have waited, should have edged his way over, then dived at the last moment. The surprise of the attack would have thrown off Warrington, and Scorpius would have snatched the snitch, snatched a victory, and snatched the smug look off McClaggen's face. But he was at the wrong angle, and Warrington was there, reaching out, the snitch almost between his fingertips-

 _WHAM!_

Warrington let out a shout of pain and a mouthful of profanity as he reared back, clutching his fingers.

'-And an excellent bludger attack from the Gryffindor Captain, and the snitch has again disappeared, but what a spectacular dive from both seekers-'

Alfie Jordan's words echoed over the heaving of the rain in snatches, half abstracted from the roars and boos of the crowds.

'-And Potter, the hot one-'

 _'Jordan!'_

'-Sorry Professor Marchling. Anyway, Lily Potter takes advantage of the Slytherin's distraction and puts the quaffle away through the centre hoop. Gryffindor lead 130 to 50. Mind you, if Malfoy makes another gaff like that again, Slytherin may still be in with a chance-'

Th rest of the commentry was lost in the jeers and booes of the crowd and Scorpius felt blood surfuse his cheeks. He rose quickly to twenty feet above the rest of the players and began to circle again. Below him, Lucy sent a beautifully aimed bludger at Pucey, who dropped the quaffle, which was snatched by Keegan. Scorpius watched as Keegan passed to Erin, who passed to Lily, who faked a shot but really reverse passed back to Keegan who scored while Flint was still trying to work out where the quaffle was. The Gryffindor cheers errupted again as Rose flew up beside him, eyes still scanning the game feverishly.

'Are you okay?' She asked without preample, and with no hint of sympathy in her voice.

'I'm fine. I calculated wrong, that's all. It won't happen again.'

Rose tore her eyes away from the game below and smiled at him.

'It wasn't your fault. Warrington was simply in a better position. I have total faith in you.' And Rose reached out, squeezing his fingers for the briefest of moments, and then she was gone, leaving Scorpius gazing after her, a slight tingle still running up and down his fingers.

'-It looks like the Gryffindor seeker has been hit with a bludger up there, oh look, Slytherin beater Bibbington-Smythe has sent a power blow towards him which Malfoy easily dodges. Weasley and Weasley tear after it and- was that the Dopplebeater Defence?'

A howl of fury rose from the Slytherin fans as both Rose and Lucy powered through the swing and together sent the bludger careering through the air towards Tabitha Higgs who didn't swerve in time. She dropped the quaffle and bent double, only just managing to stay on her broom with the help of Mercury Bullstrode who sped over to help her friend. Erin snatched the quaffle from the air and sped forwards, zigzagging from side to side, before suddenly rising as though to attack the centre hoop. Flint rose with her and she dropped the quaffle into the waiting outstretched arms of Lily who scored again.

'-and the Gryffindor chasers are really going old-school with some of these moves! Oxley executes a perfect Woollongong Shimmy followed by Porskoff Ploy and Potter scores again. Gryffindor lead 150 to 50!'

Scorpius rose a few more feet and began to circle again, desperately squinting through the rain. When he neared the Gryffindor goalposts, McClaggen rose to meet him, his face contorted.

'What the fuck Malfoy? You and Rose, tell me what's going on now!'

'What?' Scorpius almost fell off his broom, he was so surprised by McClaggen's attack. 'Mack, you're talking bollocks, get back to the goalposts, they're totally open-'

'You think you're so smug, don't you? Weasling your way in – well she won't g out with me over these bloody rules, and she certainly won't go out with you-'

'-And it looks like the Gryffindor team are experiencing some friction as Keeper McClaggen leaves the goalposts completely ungarded in order to yell at the seeker... Maybe this is a clever ruse?'

'This is not the time for this conversation', Scorpius spluttered, 'Rose is my best friend and this match means everything to her. If we mess it up she'll never speak to either of us again!'

'I don't know what you've said to her, but I know it's your fault! You made her fancy you over me-'

'Rose fancies me?' Scorpius spluttered a little more, 'I- What?'

'-the Gryffindor chasers are doing an excellent job of stopping Slytherin gain posession, but can they keep this up when their keeper is twenty feet above the goalposts? Ow, excellent bludger work from Weasley, the scary one, and Arthur Pucey drops the quaffle again. Good job too or he probably would have scored.'

'McClaggen, Rose says get the hell back to the goalposts!'

Lucy swerved to hover next to the two older boys, but they barely noticed her.

'You're nothing but a good-for-nothing Deatheater! Like Rose would ever actually like you-'

'Don't you dare call me that you fucking ponce!' Mack had finally hit a nerve, and before he knew it Scorpius was shouting. 'Rose is my best friend, not yours, and she dumped your ass because she knew you were never worth her time!-'

It was with a kind of frozen terror that Rose turned her head and saw McClaggen still had not followed her orders. Higgs evaded Lily, sent Erin spinning of course with the Transylvanian tackle, and ducked Keegan who had to swerve to avoid a bludger. Rose took both hands off her broom and hit the bludge on the reverse swing as hard as she could, sending it spinning towards Higgs. It hit the tail of her broomstick but she somehow held on, dropping the quaffle to Bullstrode who was waiting a few feet below.

Rose's scream for McClaggen to _'get back to the goalposts and stop acting like a bloody fool!'_ was lost in the sheeting rain, and she saw with confusion that Mack seemed to have wrenched Lucy's bat out of her hand.

It seemed to happen so slowly, like a flickering film that kept jumping, as Rose watched her keeper bringing the bat down on Scorpius's face, as she watched his broom lurch, as she watched her best friend begin to fall.

She caught him ten feet above the ground.

'My broom', he muttered weakly around a mouthful of blood and broken teeth and despite everything, Rose cracked a smile.

'Good to know you still have your priorities in order', she quipped and made to signal to Coach Hendrix for time out, but suddenly Warrington was diving, and it was with a different kind of horror that Rose watched him scoop up the tiny, fluttering ball, raising it above his head in triumph.

Scorpius was sick over the edge of the broom.

 **...**

 **The Gryffindor Lockers**

 **14:oo hours**

 **...**

It took the best part of twenty minutes for the buzzing to fade out of Rose's ears. She sat on the bench, across from her silent team, and waited. And when, finally, Scorpius walked in, teeth regrown, and head bandaged, blood still covering his face and robes, nobody spoke and nobody moved. He took his seat and Rose closed her eyes, not wanting to have to say what she knew she must.

'What happened?'

Everyone looked towards Scorpius, but it was McClaggen who spoke.

'Malfoy and I had a disagreement.'

'About what?'

'Does it matter?'

The door to the locker room swung open and Coach Hendrix, closely followed by Rhoda Mantis walked in. Rose felt the bottom fall out of her stomach at the sight of the scout. Her one chance, her only chance, and it been blown by her own failure to see that McClaggen would never work as part of a team.

She stood, and caught Coach Hendrix's eye. ' _Let me deal with this',_ her look plainly said, and he answered with a nod.

'McClaggen, I care about the safety of my players more than victory, more than the entire tournament. I do not care about provacation, excuses and reasoning. You acted in a matter unfitting for the position of respect you have on this team. You should be a role model to younger players, but instead you allowed your own petty opinions to rule you which led to violence against one of our own. I told you at the beginning of the year that this team is a family. I will not tolerate the way you have behaved today. You put at risk our chances of winning, but importantly, the safety of one of your fellow players.'

 _Deep breath Rose_ , she told herself. _Don't shout, hold your temper in check. Don't let them know how angry you really are._

'At the beginning of the year I also told you I will not run this team as a dictatorship. Therefore now the team will vote on whether they are willing to overlook this, or whether you are to be removed from the team. Those wanting the explusion of Mack McClaggen from the Gryffindor quidditch team, raise your hand.'

The three chaser's hands all shot into the air, closely followed by Lucy's.

'Those willing to overlook this, raise your hand.'

Surprisingly, it was Scorpius who raised his hand. But he was the only one.

Rose sighed, but the outcome was not unexpected.

'Mack McClaggen, leave. I will send someone to retrieve your team robes tomorrow morning.'

Rose wasn't sure why McClaggen looked so shocked as the team stood and formed ranks around Rose, effectively forcing him towards the door. Was he really so arrogant as to think they would forgive him this?

When he was gone, Rose clapped her hands once, and the team sat back down.

'Now that he is gone, I want to congratulate you all. I know we lost, but it's not over yet. But most importantly, we proved today that all our dedication, our talent, our hardwork has formed a team that is a force to be reckoned with.'

She looked around at them all, and tried not to cry. 'I couldn't be more proud of you. Now hit the showers. You guys stink. Malfoy, hospital wing – I want you checked out by Matron Longbottom. Lucas, go with him.'

As her team diverged, Rose strode over to the two adults, still stood in the corner of the changing rooms.

'Well done Weasley.' Coach Hendrix looked approving. 'I wasn't sure if you needed some extra authority, but I see now I was entirely mistaken.'

Rose nodded. 'Thanks Coach, though it's my fault really. I knew McClaggen had an arrogant streak, but I thought he cared as much about the team as I did. It seems I was mistaken.'

Rose spoke around the lump in her throat, and the tears of defeat and forlorn hope in her eyes went unshed. She stared defiantly at Rhoda Mantis, who looked thoughtfully back at her.

'I shall be watching you most carefully, Miss Weasley', was all she said however, and the two strode from the room, the door swinging closed behind them.

Rose stayed where she was for a few minutes, making sure that they were gone, then headed back out onto the now deserted pitch.

The rain had driven the spectators hastily back up to the well lit castle with its warm common rooms, so she was alone as she slumped on the grass, still covered in Scorpius's blood and mud, finally letting her angry tears escape. As a general rule she never let herself cry, but these tears were as much out of self-uncertainty as furious anger, self-pity only increasing her feeling of guilt.

Through the rain, she suddenly felt the presence of someone nearby and her heart lept, thinking that maybe Scorpius had defied her orders and followed her here. She could almost feel the warmth of his arms as he pulled her close, the silkiness of his hair brushing her cheek, but when she looked up it was Findley, and not the boy she had been hoping to see.

Rose hastily scrubbed her palms across her eyes, but he sat down next to her in the mud, despite her less than put-together appearance. They sat for a moment in the rain, and Rose calmed her breathing.

'You know, Rose', he said precently, stretching out his long legs as though sat on the most comfortable of sofas, and not in the six inches of mud and grass that coated the quidditch pitch. 'Losing's part of life.'

'Please spare me your platitudes-' She interrupted. 'This is all my fault, and Scorpius could have been really badly injured. It's just-' She shoved back her matted hair, '-This competition adds so much pressure. I never second guessed myself before this year and now we've only had one match and I'm already worried we're falling apart.'

'Don't be melodramatic', but his tone was light, 'you may not like my platitudes, but I'm not wrong. A Captain must lead their team, but team has to play their part too.'

'I knew he had a jealous streak though.' Rose finally looked up at him, and there was something about his clear gaze that overrode the last of her tears.

'You know what they were fighting about?'

'I think I can guess. And the really stupid thing is that Mack was completely wrong, and Scorpius doesn't like me at all.'

If Findley thought anything about this, he kept it to himself, and Rose managed to finally pull herself together. They sat for another minute or so and Rose watched Scorpius's blood, still staining the front of her robes, begin to fade in the rain.

'You played remarkably well today Rose.'

'You think?'

'I know', he replied. 'I've seen professional players struggle to pull off some of the moves you managed today.'

'Still didn't make a difference though, did it?' Rose answered gloomily. 'We still lost.'

Findley rubbed his chin thoughtfully, then got to his feet, putting out a hand to help Rose up. 'I think we have sat on this muddy field long enough. A nip of something is in order, for medicinal reasons of course.' He tipped her a wink.

They left the stadium and walked back to the castle in silence, but in the Entrance Hall, as they were about to part, he caught her arm.

'The fact that you care so much about your team will not be missed with the scouts. Trust me.'

And oddly enough, Rose did trust him.

* * *

 **A.N.**

 **Another Sunday, another chapter! I hope you enjoyed it, drop me a review, tell me what you think.**

 **Thank you to Gandalf537, Guest and Sunnydaze for your wonderful reviews. This chapter is dedicated to you!**

Some Quidditch Terminology:

The Starfish and Stick...

 _Keeper defence; the Keeper holds the broom horizontally with one hand and one foot curled around the handle, while keeping all limbs outstretched. The starfish without stick should never be attempted._

The Bludger Backbeat...

 _A move by which the Beater strikes the Bludger with a backhanded club swing, sending it behind him or her, rather than in front. Difficult to bring off with precision, but excellent for confusing opponents._

The Dopplebeater Defence...

 _Both Beaters hit a bludger at the same time for extra power, resulting in a Bludger attack of greater severity._

Porskoff Ploy...

 _The Chaser carrying the quaffle flies upwards, leading opposing chasers to believe he or she is trying to escape them to score, but then throws the Quaffle downwards to a fellow chaser waiting to catch it. Named after Russian Chaser Petrova Porskoff._

Transylvanian Tackle...

 _First seen at the World Cup of 1473, this is a fake punch aimed at the nose. As long as contact is not made, the move is not illegal, though it is difficult to pull off when both parties are on speeding brooms._

Woollongong Shimmy...

 _Perfected by the Australian Woollongong Warriers, this is a high-speed zig-zagging movement intended to throw off opposing chasers._

 **All quidditch terms taken from Quidditch Through the Ages, a book that Rose Weasley has read 153 times to date.**

 **What will be happening in Chapter IX? You can look out for:**

 **Flying textbooks. (and in some cases – furniture)**

 **The stealing of glasses**

 **A kiss (or maybe two)**

 **And on that cliffhanger,**

 **love and hugs**

 **A.A.A.**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

…

 **20th October (continued)**

 **The Gryffindor Common Room**

 **21:oo hours**

…

'Hey Rose, want to go watch Al being shot down by Lizzie?'

'No.'

'How about sneaking down to the kitchens to steal food?'

'No, you go.'

'Do you want company and a fresh bottle of firewhiskey?'

'See Scorp, this is why we're friends?'

…

'Lils, I'm worried about Rose.'

'This is the first match she's ever lost, she was bound to take it hard. Let her be, Erin. There's nothing we can do.'

'She's singing Odo the Hero.'

'And she's only had half a bottle? Blimey! She must be depressed.'

…

'You played really well today Lily. Shame about McClaggen though.'

'Thanks Keegan, you were great yourself. I thought you were going to be sick when we walked out onto the pitch, but you were amazing.'

'I honestly thought I was going to pass out when Coach Hendrix told us to mount our brooms.'

'But you didn't, and that's the main thing.'

'Is Rose going to be okay?'

'Honestly? I don't know. The last time she got this drunk she kissed Scorpius so who knows what will happen?'

'She did what?'

'Don't you remember? It was the year before last I think. Right before she passed out she kissed him. Didn't remember a thing of course, the amount she drank. Broke poor Scorpius's heart.'

'I remember hearing about that. I'd forgotten he used to be crazy about her.'

…

'And Odo the Hero, they bore him back home-'

'-to the place that he'd known as a lad.'

'And they laid him to rest with his had inside out-'

'-And his wand snapped in two-'

'-Which was sad!'

…

'Looks like Scorpius has given up being the responsible one.'

'Hey Erin, come sit with us. Yes, though I didn't know he could carry a tune.'

'Thanks Lily. Surprising isn't it? Would never have pegged him for a musical type?'

'What I'm wondering is where they got all those bottles from. There's enough there to drink a reasonably-sized troll under the table.'

'What do you think Keegan? If you can't beat them, join them?'

'I thought you'd never ask.'

…

 **22:oo hours**

 **...**

The portrait hole swung open to reveal Mack McClaggen who had disappeared after he had been ousted, with so little attempt at servility, from the team. He had the slightly cornered expression of one expecting a thrashing, or at least a well-aimed stinging jinx, and, once through the portrait hole, set off for the seventh year boy's dormitory at a pace akin to a light jog. Still, he had hardly made it a quarter of the way across the common room when a hush descended, from the team, the seventh years, right down to the tiniest first year. Even Rose and Scorpius's mournful lament died away.

Mack didn't go red, but nor would he meet the accusatory eyes of his house. Another few steps – he was near to the staircase leading up to the boy's dormitories – when a parchment aeroplane dive bombed the back of his head. A scrunched up piece of parchment, this time less elegantly spelled and instead just lobbed with brute strength, followed.

'Is it wrong that I'm kind of enjoying this?' Albus asked Lizzie who, despite her less than red-and-gold tie, was always in and out of the Gryffindor common room. (First as family friend, then as honorary Gryffindor, then as girlfriend of James Potter, then as Head Girl.)

The two heads were sat, very deliberately looking in the other direction as the dejected Gryffindors dealt their own silent revenge.

'House pride.' Lizzie replied. 'That the house would protect the first Gryffindor Malfoy, over the sixth Gryffindor McClaggen is wonderful to see. Perhaps people have shorter memories than we suppose.'

'Where quidditch is concerned, I definitely agree.' Albus answered, idly levitating a few crumpled balls of parchment into the fire.

They sat for a few moments more, ignoring the carnage behind them, and Albus looked at Lizzie's hand which was resting on the table, mere inches from his own.

 _But she's James ex-girlfriend,_ he thought miserably. _If I'd had the courage to ask her before he did-_ But he hadn't, and so he was reduced to staring at her hands, small with neat half-moon nails, a cut from herbology on her thumb.

As though sensing the direction of his gaze, she withdrew her hands and folded them in her lap, shifting herself slightly.

'Should we stop them yet?'

'If McClaggen is stupid enough to hang around in the common room, then he deserves all he gets', Al said unfeelingly. 'He could have seriously hurt Scorpius, brain damage even.'

'I was actually-' A textbook flew past them, '-thinking more about the state of your common room-' Another crash and this time they both looked around, trying to find the source of the noise. '-And the amount of poorly aimed furniture that is currently flying through the air!'

They both sprang to their feet as someone, it was difficult to work out who through the chaos, levitated a chair at the far wall, and, with a crash, the legs fell off.

'ENOUGH!'

Though Al had opened his mouth to bellow, Rose had gotten there first.

'Let him go. He is not worthy of our time.'

It was apparent the respect (and fear) Rose garnered within her house when the whole common room fell silent. Even the diving aeroplanes ceased their descent, hovering in mid-air.

'He's not even worth it.' Rose muttered, and sank back down in her chair.

McClaggen took the opportunity to scurry upstairs.

…

 **22:3o hours**

 **...**

'Do you want to go to bed?'

It took Rose the best part of an entire minute to work out what Scorpius had said, and even then it took her still longer to remove the unspoken insinuation.

She nodded slowly, attempting to form words and giving up. Instead she allowed Scorpius, who was considerably less drunk than she was, to pull her to her feet, to wrap an arm around her waist, and to more or less carry her across the common room. When they reached the staircase leading to the girl's dormitory Scorpius froze, unsure on how to proceed.

Rose was clearly in no state to traverse the stairs without a fair amount of help, and as Scorpius couldn't go up without turning them into a helter-skelter of doom, he changed direction, leading her towards the boy's dormitory.

The curtains around Mack's bed were tightly pulled, and Keegan and Al were still in the common room, their beds were empty. Sean was snoring lightly, deeply asleep.

'Scorpius?'

'I'm here. I'm going to get you into bed okay? Then I'll sleep on the floor.'

Scorpius wrangled her onto the mattress, and pulled off her shoes, then hurried to the bathroom to pour a glass of water which, after a little encouragement, she downed.

'Scorpius-' One of Rose's arms flailed slightly, catching him in the stomach. Her hand curled into the fabric of the shirt he had changed into after his shower. 'Don't leave...'

When they'd been kids, just starting at Hogwarts, Rose used to get nightmares sometimes and crawl into bed with Albus. Then one day, when Albus was in the Hospital Wing with a shattered knee (lesson learned, and to this day he never went near the Whomping Willow again), she crawled in with her new best friend.

Scorpius hadn't known what to do, never having sisters or brothers. But instead of kicking her out, he passed her his handkerchief, and rolled over so she could have some blankets.

As the years passed Rose grew out of her nightmares, but when things were really bad, she still crawled in beside him. Like that night back at the end of fifth year. The night she had kissed him and Scorpius had thought his heart might explode through his chest. He'd hugged her close all night, and when she'd woken in the morning, he'd waited with baited breath-

And she hadn't remembered anything. And his heart was broken al over again.

He'd never told anyone about the long-standing crush on Rose, though he had suspected that he wasn't the subtlest of fifteen year-olds. But after that night, he gave up hoping that he might be anything more to her than friends. That summer he finally stopped hoping and said yes, when Isabelle asked him out for coffee. That was the summer, he told himself now, that he grew up.

'Don't leave me.' She murmured now, and Scorpius slipped under the blankets next to her, drawing the curtains closed. She clung to him, burying her face in his chest, and he wrapped his arms around her, until the quiet regular sighs of her breathing told him that she'd fallen asleep.

…

 **23:oo hours**

…

'I can't stand this any longer. I'm going to bed.' Erin set her barely-touched glass down on the floor by her seat and stood, running a hand through her dreads.

It was as though Erin's departure had triggered the exodus as dejected Gryffindors decided, too, to call it the end of a miserable day. A few grimaced understandingly at Albus, Lizzie, Lucy, Lily and Keegan who were huddled by the fire, but many averted their eyes, not wanting to humiliate the team any further. Soon the common room cleared, leaving only the four by the fire, occasionally passing around a bottle of butterbeer.

It was only when Lucy fell asleep in her chair that Lizzie offered to put her to bed before heading back to the Hufflepuff dormitories. Once they were gone, Albus departed too, having only stayed to be near Lizzie. That left Lily and Keegan alone by the fire.

Due to the cramped nature of the common room earlier when nearly the whole house had squashed in to commiserate in numbers, Lily had perched herself on the arm of Keegan's chair, idly swinging her legs. Now, despite the empty chairs, she hadn't moved.

Keegan was watching the fire when she broke the silence.

'Are you sad that we lost?'

'I guess', he replied. 'I'm more sad for Rose than anything, because this meant so much to her. But mostly I'm just glad that I got to spend so much time with you guys. Especially you.'

He hadn't meant to let this slip, and he felt Lily turn to look at him but he continued to stare resolutely at the fire.

Perhaps it was the quiet, or the butterbeer, but for some reason he kept talking.

'You know I tried out for the team so I could talk to you. Sounds slightly creepy, though I don't mean it that way-' He tried to work out where he was going with this unsolicited speech, decided he didn't know, and kept going anyway. '-But I could never work up the courage to talk to you. I was the geek in my year, and you were so popular...'

He trailed off and finally looked up at her. Her eyes were a dark brown, flecked with gold, and she was watching him, not with repulsion but with something he couldn't place.

'Keegan', she said slowly. 'I think you better kiss me now.'

'Are you sure?' He whispered, and she leaned into him.

'I'm very sure.'

Kissing Lily was everything Keegan had ever hoped and more. The feel of her soft lips against his own, the silky texture of her hair against his fingers, then tugging her forwards so she was splayed across his laps, her own fingers knotting into his hair. His glasses were steaming up, and they kept bumping into Lily's nose, but neither of them seemed to care.

They might have kissed for minutes, hours, or even several moonlit nights, but when they pulled apart, Lily seemed as disorientated as he did.

Keegan desperately sought around his befuddled brain for something to say and before he could think his tongue was blurting:

'Did you want another tutoring session at some point?'

Lily reached up and pushed a curly spring of hair off his forehead, then slid his glasses from his nose, sliding them onto her own.

Through the blur that was now his world, he saw her eyes, framed large and beautiful.

'I want it now', she whispered, and leant forwards to kiss him again.

A.N.

Just a short one I know, but I wanted to upload this on Sunday as promised.

What did you think? I couldn't help myself – I really wanted to put a kiss in this chapter! Did anyone get the Hinny reference?

Review!

Love and hugs

A.A.A.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

…

 **21st October**

 **The Great Hall**

 **07oo hours**

 **...**

The Great Hall was deserted when Lily walked in, head magically cleared from the previous nights inebriation. Possibly because it was a Sunday morning, more probably due to the large quantities of firewhiskey quaffed the night before. In fact, as she opened the double doors and began to walk towards the Gryffindor table, there was only one person already sat there, a book propped open against the jam pot, and it wasn't Rose.

Lily knew for a fact that her cousin would still be running extra laps, punishing herself for her lapse in judgement the previous night, and that she would extend her morning trials in an attempt to placate her own burning feeling of inadequacy. Lily personally thought Rose was massively hard on herself, but there was no use trying to persuade her into a more reasonable course of action. Rose was Rose, and Lily didn't think she would ever change.

No, the persona at the breakfast table wasn't Rose, nor was it some inexhaustible first year. In fact it was Keegan, who was almost the last person Lily had expected but, judging from the warm feeling ghosting the back of her neck, the one she had been secretly hoping to see.

Lily had never really spent that much time with Keegan before he joined the quidditch team. He never spoke to her, and while she had good friends throughout most of the years due to her extended family, Keegan kept himself to himself when she was hanging out with Albus. She had, incorrectly as it turns out, assumed that he didn't like having his friend's kid sister hanging around with them. Consequentially, she had never thought about him that much. She had thought him cute, but in a subtle way, frightening intelligent where she was only average, and above all – Al's best friend, which made him totally off-limits. There were rules about these things you see.

So Lily had put Keegan out of her mind, and then he had joined the quidditch team. Lily soon realised that the reason he didn't speak was due to shyness, not snobbishness, and so she made an effort to get him to open up. It took less than a month for her to realise that he was probably one of the nicest boys she knew, that his intellect had a bent for humour, and that she was in very great danger of beginning to fancy her brother's best friend.

Lily, despite her less than exemplary potions and History of Magic grades, was not stupid. But she also knew that, should he feel the same, a relationship with Keegan might be a wonderful experience for the people involved, but less wonderful for the people around them. There was his friendship with Al to think about, as well as the quidditch team. Lily cared, above all, about family. James was the wild one, Albus the kind one, and she, the loyal one. But then had come last night.

Lily did not drink in great quantities. Normally she was the one holding back the hair of her friends as they bemoaned the mess their lives had become and emptied their guts into the toilet bowl. She got the feeling that Keegan wasn't used to firewhiskey either, at least not the stuff that Hugo had procured for them. It had been powerful stuff, and it only took a few sips for Lily to forget why she had promised herself that Keegan was off-limits.

Now, she sped up and settled into the seat next to him, jostling his arm as he squinted at the book – _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade Seven_ – and wondered what to do.

As it turned out, he made the decision for her.

...

Keegan had known for years that he was in love with his best friend's little sister. But one didn't ever let onto the fact, because he quite enjoyed having a nose that didn't look like a squashed tomato, and Albus was his best mate, and that was that really. Besides, Lily was incredible popular, and he was, _well_ , not. Albus had always made it clear that he was not his brother by removing himself from the people who might have used him for his fame. He withdrew into academics, and focused determinately on his future, becoming prefect, then head boy with little or no competition. They suited each other, and while their friendship had initially been based on academia, it didn't matter now.

Keegan and Albus had watched as Lily dated (though their feelings had stemmed from markedly different sources) through her fourth year, then cheered as she dumped Jason Inglebee, the Ravenclaw Keeper. At the beginning of this year, however, it had dawned upon him that he was running out of time if he wanted to ask her out, and so he swallowed his fear, and ignored Albus's incredulity, and tried out for quidditch. To his shock, Rose had selected him.

What had shocked him was how easy it was to talk to Lily. She was always cheerful, always smiling, and she was highly practical which, while not what most people look for in a partner, had always attracted Keegan who had a dislike for histrionics which mostly stemmed from an inability to know how to cope with them. Lily was beautiful, yes, but she was more importantly one of the nicest people he knew, and she had a way of making anyone feel special, even the geeky best friend of her brother.

Kissing Lily had been everything he had hoped, dreamed and wished. And he wasn't about to lose this chance again.

...

'Hello', Lily smiled at him, and he felt his heart race. She looked incredibly perky for someone who had been drunk enough to kiss him last night, which would have been annoying, especially considering his own hungover state, but this was Lily and she was incapable of annoying him.

'I have a present for you', she continued, reaching into the pocket of her robes.

'A present?' He queried, but she was already holding up a tiny glass vial full of a bluish liquid. It caught the bright sunshine from the enchanted ceiling, and twinkled at him, merrily mocking.

'You are an angel', he croaked, downing the hangover cure in one gulping mouthful. He handed the vial back to her and felt his headache lift as the potion rehydrated him.

The niceties completed, both fell into an awkward silence, not knowing how to proceed.

Keegan took a deep breath and blurted: 'Lily I was wondering-'

'Look Keegan, about last night-'

They both stopped, and both gave an awkward laugh.

'You go first.'

'No, you go first.'

'I said it first', she retorted with a laugh.

'I was wondering', he said, with a calm that surprised him, 'If you'd like to go out with me.'

Lily opened her mouth to answer, but at that moment the double doors crashed open and Rose stormed in, still in her running gear with mud splashed up her long legs. There was a woebegone expression on her face, and even from this distance Lily could see the lines of pain and worry on her cousin's face. Lily knew in that moment that she couldn't bear to bring her cousin any more hardship, at least for now.

'You know I want to', she said, picking her words carefully. 'You have to know that I really want to, but-'

'You can say no Lily, you don't have to pretend last night meant something to you if it didn't.' Keegan couldn't look up, couldn't meet her eyes. He could almost feel his heart breaking.

'It's not that', she said urgently. 'You have to believe me! I really like you, but we can't. The quidditch rules, the team. We're not allowed-'

'Damn the rules', he exploded. The force behind his own words shocked them both. 'Lily, I'd quit the team if it meant I could be with you. I only joined to I could talk to you-'

'No.' Lily's voice was equally as forceful as his had been. 'It would break Rose's heart to watch her team fall to pieces, and I can't let that happen.'

'I'd wait', he whispered. 'If that's what you wanted. Until the seasons over. Then, maybe, I could ask you again?'

Hidden beneath the table, Lily laid her hand across his, stroking her thumb across the back of his palm. 'You won't have to ask again. You already know the answer.'

…

 **The Greenhouses**

 **09oo hours**

 **...**

So used to getting up at five am was Rose's body that even her hangover wasn't enough to stop her eyes from peeling apart, and her muscles automatically moving to carry her out of the warmth of the bed. What was harder to ignore was the way, when she shuffled out from underneath his arm, Scorpius had curved his body around hers as though he hadn't wanted her to leave.

It had been a long time since she had slept in the same bed as her friend, but it felt so different now, as though she was aware of every millimetre of flesh that was pressed against him. In those few seconds before she rolled out of bed, she had wondered if he even felt a fraction of the security she had in his arms.

She ran two laps of the Black Lake to drive all her confusion from her, and by the time she staggered into the Great Hall she was so light-headed that she thought she might pass out. Half a litre of water later she was making plans.

Rose tracked Alex Simpson down eventually in Greenhouse Four where he was repotting venomous tentacula with the help of a freezing charm, a shovel and a large pair of lethal-looking secateurs. She had been unable to face another full house try-out, and Alex had out flown the rest of the competition.

'There's a training session tonight at seven', she called over her shoulder as she left the greenhouse. He simply nodded in affirmation, and Rose found his quietness oddly soothing after the continuous babble of Mack.

…

 **The Corridors**

 **21oo hours**

 **...**

'Oi! Loo-roll, where do you think you're going?'

Lucy swore under her breath, and clenched her fists, wondering if she could deal with this one her own, or whether Rose would hear her if she screamed loud enough. It was a less dignified solution certainly, but it would surely be effective.

'Tillian'. She growled. 'I have just spent two hours training in the cold, I have an essay to write for tomorrow, I am not in the mood to put up with your childish behaviour. Go away.'

'You can't make me', he taunted, and Lucy once again wondered how he had ever made it into Ravenclaw when his retorts and insults lacked anything in the way of originality. She told him as much, which was probably a mistake because his flabby, unhappy skin flushed dark red and he took a couple of menacing steps towards her.

'You're going the right way for a slap-'

'What the hell are you doing to my cousin?'

Lucy sometimes wished that Rose was slightly easier to talk to, but there were times when she was incredibly glad that, at least outside the family, Rose was bloody terrifying. Tommy looked like he was trying to melt into the wall behind him.

'I- I- Nothing, I wasn't-'

'How dare you! How dare you threaten my family! How dare you bully my cousin! You are filth, you are pond sludge and Lucy is ten, a hundred times the person you are!'

Tillian was broad, yes, but Rose had three years and at least a foot on him, and when she seized the front of his robes she managed to hoist his bulk into the air without problem. He tried to kick her, but she simply shook him like a rag doll.

Fury was racing through her, fury at Tillian for bullying her cousin, her team mate, her friend; fury at McClaggen for all her had cost her; fury at herself for not stopping this sooner, for not being good enough.

'Don't you dare come near my family again, do you hear me?'

'MISS WEASLEY, WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?'

'Professor Marchling! It was my fault, Rosie was just-'

'That is enough Miss Weasley. I suggest you return at once to your dormitory.'

'But Professor-'

'Enough. Rose Weasley, put that boy down this instance!'

Rose dropped Tillian onto the ground, and only now that her anger had subsided did she feel the powerful ache in her arms from where she had hoisted him off the ground.

'Mr Tillian, if you are not hurt, then I suggest that you also return to your dormitory.'

Tillian scrambled away and took off down the corridor after Lucy.

'Miss Weasley, follow me.'

Rose traipsed after Marchling, trying, without much success, to stop her thoughts racing ahead. She'd blown it now. Losing the match, well, however much she blamed herself she could also assign at least some of the blame onto Mack. But this, this was all her.

Sitting in the hard-backed wooden chair in front of Professor Marchling's office brought back memories of her careers meeting, back in fifth year, when her head of house had been so supportive, willing to help Rose achieve her dream, even when her mother hadn't been thrilled. And while Rose might pretend to be above caring what other people thought, she did care about how her professor saw her.

Professor Marchling shouted at Rose for at least a quarter of an hour, then offered her a cup of tea.

'I'm happy to do the detention, I deserve it. But Professor, Tommy Tillian is the scum of the earth. Everyone knows he's a bully, and I'm one of the only people he's scared of.'

'Why didn't you come to me, or Professor Longbottom, or any of the other faculty members? For Merlin's sake Rose, your cousin is Head Boy, you could have at least gone to him, if you wouldn't come to a member of staff. I am incredibly disappointed in the way you behaved today. I know you're disappointed with the outcome of yesterday's match, but that is no excuse to go around threatening someone three years younger than yourself.'

'You're right. Of course you're right', Rose said glumly, staring down at her interlocked fingers. 'I've been a bloody fool.'

'Now there's no need for that kind of language', Professor Marchling remonstrated, though there was a smile on her face. 'Miss Weasley, I'm going to give you some advice. Don't give your all to your quidditch dreams and have nothing left for the people you love. Being so single-minded will begin to drive people away if you don't let them in.'

Rose swallowed the lump that had uncharacteristically risen in her throat.

'I have always had a great deal of admiration for you Rose. You are an incredible role model for the younger years, and I know a great number of the girls look up to you. But another stunt like tonight and you will lose that respect. Your determination to protect those you care about is wonderful to see. Do not throw that away on a sport. In the end, you'll care more that you gave up your friends, than your career. **'**

Rose pondered her professor's words as she made her way back to Gryffindor Tower, and, such was the respect she had for her professor's wisdom that, when she saw the girls from her dormitory stretched out in front of the fire, gossiping and eating chocolates, she joined them instead of heading to the dormitory to work on quidditch plays. When the box of chocolates was passed her way, she didn't take one though. She wasn't ready to give up on her dreams just yet. But as they sat there, Rose suddenly realised how much she had missed this.

And maybe that was a small start, but it was a start none-the-less.

* * *

 **A.N.**

 **Some much needed character development for Rose! Alas, no Scorpius or Findley, but I felt this chapter was important!**

 **How are you liking my (and the wonderful J K Rowling of course!) characters. Let me know!**

 **Love and hugs**

 **A.A.A.**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

…

 **1st November**

 **The Library**

 **08oo hours**

…

The day after Halloween Lily was sat a suitable distance away from Keegan in a quiet corner of the library trying, in vain, to concentrate. Two things were making this difficult. The first, _well-_ You try to find a self-respecting fifteen year old who enjoyed goblin wars at eight o'clock on a Sunday morning. The second was that Keegan was wearing an white Oxford shirt and had rolled the sleeves up.

It is a truth universally accepted among the female population at large that the varying degree of hotness of any male in question is always improved by rolling up the sleeves of a white Oxford shirt.

Lily had never met someone who dressed like he was on his way to a board meeting on weekends, and looked so ridiculously good while doing it. Her family were of the 'If I can't smell it from across the room where I dumped it on the floor last night, then it's good to go' persuasion. Excepting Victoire of course. It was hard to imagine Victoire ever wearing the same piece of clothing twice, but apart from her...

So Lily was struggling to concentrate, and she had the sinking suspicion that Keegan had noticed how obvious she was being. This was their third tutoring session since the morning after they'd broken up. Well, broken up was putting it a little strongly. Mostly things had to get going before they had enough velocity to break. Failed at the starting block might be a better way of putting it. Either way, they had been good for the best part of two weeks, and Lily thought it might just kill her.

Their seating arrangement was deliberate. At their first meeting, Lily had sat down next to Keegan to share the textbooks, and had spent the entire hour trying not to accidentally brush his hand when turning a page. Since then, they had decided to sit opposite each other. But that meant that Lily could stare dreamily at him without getting a crick in her neck.

'Lily, I know this is boring, but you could pretend to be listening.'

Keegan was finding the tutoring session difficult too, though he suspected he was hiding it better than she was. After all, he'd had more practise.

'Sorry', She smiled, trying to focus on the page, and not on his hand resting against it.

'Bodrod the Bearded added fuel to the fire by blaming the increase in silver tax on the ministry of the time, and of course the silver mines were near to Fort William at the foot of Ben Nevis which lead the rebellion to choose-?'

'The Three Broomsticks?'

'Correct, The Three Broomsticks as their head quarters. And by 1611 this state had become to exacerbated that the goblins began to refuse to mint sickle which was one of the main reasons for the markets collapse, leading to the rebellion in 1612-'

Lily leaned over the table and kissed him.

She really couldn't help it.

His hands reached up to cup her face, and where once his hands might have been soft, Rose's vigorous training routine had formed callouses on the fingers. Somehow the slight rasp of his fingers made her skin tingle. His lips were soft though, but not gentle, and the way he was devouring her mouth was only matched by the way she was kissing him back, fingers knotted in his hair, their breathing fast.

One of his hands dropped to her waist and, in an attempt to pull her closer, the table gave a great wobble and the textbook, precariously shoved to one side, fell onto the floor with a calamitous thud. All at once Lily came to her sense.

When the vulture-like librarian poked her over-long nose between the bookshelves to investigate the source of the noise a few moments later, she saw only two diligent student, a boy with wildly curling hair and slightly askew glasses, and a girl with traces of a flush along her cheeks, heads bowed over their parchment. With a sniff, she scurried away.

When the ancient librarian had left Lily, without raising her eyes from her untidy notes, said: 'I'm sorry about that.'

'Really, don't apologise. It was my fault as well.' Keegan half wished she would look up, but felt that it was probably better for his sanity if she didn't. That half-smile she sometimes gave wasn't exactly helping him to avoid thinking about her lips.

'It can't happen again', Lily said miserably. 'We agreed...'

'Yeah', he confirmed. 'But that doesn't make it any easier.'

'Maybe we shouldn't spend time together alone.'

'It would be the sensible thing to do...'

'It's not for that long really.'

'I totally understand.'

Lily pushed her books into her bag and stood up.

'Thanks for the tutoring sessions anyway. They were fun. The Three Broomsticks, 1612 and all that-'

'So you do listen', he tried to lighten the mood with a feeble joke. It was so feeble that a flobberworm would have seen through it, but Lily seized it like the proverbial man falling from a great height clutches his broomstick.

'Yeah, not everything goes in one ear and out the other, you know. Anyway, see you at training.'

Keegan watched her walk away between the shelves, and then let his head thump down on top of his textbook.

 **…**

 **The Quidditch Pitch**

 **09oo hours**

 **…**

Lily watched Rose fly laps with impressive speed and without the use of her hands. There was no denying, Rose was an incredible flyer, and when she landed, which she did, throwing up rivets of dirt, Lily told her cousin so.

Rose smiled at Lily, and shouldered her broom. 'Thanks Lils, though there's always plenty to work on.'

'Don't be hard on yourself', Lily laughed as they fell into step, heading back up towards the changing rooms. 'You're a bloody genius on a broomstick!'

'And you have the most natural flair for quidditch that I've ever seen', Rose returned, laughing as well. 'We can't both be perfect!'

In the changing rooms Rose laid her broom down with reverential care and began to get changed. 'So what was it you wanted to talk to me about?'

Lily dithered for a few moments, idly shifting her weight from one foot to the other. Then she settled on the truth.

'I'm really struggling to keep up with my school work, what with training four days a week. I'm not a genius like you unfortunately, I have to study really hard, and Professor Zabini says if I get another D in potions he's going to write to Mum.'

Rose pondered her cousin's words, guilt settling into her stomach. 'I'm sorry Lils, I had no idea you were struggling. I thought Keegan was tutoring you.'

Lily felt her insides jump slightly at the mention of his name. 'It didn't work out unfortunately.'

If Rose thought anything about this, she kept it to herself, though she did give her cousin a searching look.

 **…**

 **The Gryffindor Common Room**

 **15oo hours**

 **…**

After Rose had called an emergency quidditch meeting in the Gryffindor common room she pulled Scorpius aside.

The team had been reasonably complacent about the addition of a new rule. (Number Six: Anyone unable to keep up with schoolwork is to speak to the captain immediately, and she will use her pull with the prefects to find them tutoring partners. If they are still struggling, then they must face the choice of potentially leaving the team, or speaking to the professors about finding solutions.) Though Rose thought there might have been a few uncomfortable shuffles as she recapped the other five rules.

She decided to ignore these murmurings for the sake of her sanity, and to focus on the problem at hand, namely Scorpius and the question she had for him.

'Hey you', she tugged on his arm until he collapsed onto the seat next to her, all long legs and tangled limbs, his overlong hair falling into his face. He smiled winningly at her, and absently lent back, draping his arm over the back of her seat. She lent into him, but her movements were not as relaxed as his. She was having another of those annoying moments when she was incredibly aware of every part of Scorpius, from his arm behind her neck, to his narrow hip jutting against her own, to his very smell and the coffee on his breath.

'What's up?' Scorpius grinned down at Rose's freckled face, and she felt bad about ruining his good mood with her question. Still, quidditch first.

'Lily is worried about having to drop out of the team because she can't keep up with her potions and History of Magic work.'

He jokingly punched her lightly on the thigh. 'I should have known that it would be quidditch. You're a one-track record, my dear.' He said, smiling fondly at her.

'I mean I thought Keegan was helping her but that seems to have stopped now. And then I thought about the person in our year who is best at potions and I thought about it for a while, and the most obvious person is-'

'No.'

'Scorpius-'

'No, I don't want her around at the moment. It's still too awkward, we can barely look at each other still.'

'Isabelle would be tutoring Lily, not you!' Rose fired up, leaning forwards. Scorpius extracted his arm from behind her, the smile slipping from his lips. 'Think about the team, we _need_ Lily, she's an incredible player-'

'Quidditch, quidditch, QUIDDITCH! That's all you care about! What about my feelings or don't they matter to you at all? If she's tutoring Lily then she's going to be hanging around with us, and I can't face that-'

'Oh for Merlin's _sake_ Scorpius! You guys have been broken up two whole months, get over it! You call me a bloody stuck record, but you're worse! I know you cared about her a lot, but now you're just using it as an excuse not to move on-'

'MOVE ON?' Scorpius roared, heaving himself off the seat and standing up angrily. 'Jut because you've got the emotional range of a brick wall, doesn't mean that we all do! You might not feel things like love and rejection, but I do, so you can go stuff it!'

And with that he shoved his hands into his pockets and, ignoring the curious stares of the Gryffindors in the common room, stormed up to the boy's dormitory.

Rose buried her head in her hands.

...

Scorpius paced three times around the deserted dormitory, before sinking onto his bed and running a hand through his hair. As the overlong strands fell into his eyes, he thought dismally that he probably should get it cut, that it was too long for a quidditch player. Then he realised that was probably what Rose thought every time she looked at him, and groaned.

Rose.

He'd been infatuated with her all the way through fourth and fifth year, and maybe even a little bit before that. He kept waiting for the day that she would wake up from dating that louse McClaggen and realise that he had been there all along.

He touched his lips.

He'd only kissed Isabelle to try and get the feel of Rose lips against his own out of his head. And when Rose had vanished off to Russia to play quidditch without so much as letting him down gently, he'd given up. By the time Albus got round to pointing out that Rose didn't remember anything from that night, Scorpius was happily ensconced in coupledom.

While, when he sorted through the facts in his head like this, it sounded like he was merely using Isabelle, that simply wasn't true. Isabelle was nothing like Rose, true, and that had been one of the things that attracted him at first. But Isabelle was one of life's really good people. She was intelligent, loyal to a fault, and so unceasingly kind that she had made Scorpius want to be a better person. He felt like a better person when they were together, and when she broke up with him, he worried he was going to lose that.

For a first girlfriend, his only girlfriend, they'd bypassed the awkwardness of venturing into the dating scene. Their friends might tease them for being old-fashioned, but they clicked. Rose might not have been his first kiss – that dubious honour lay with Celia Raventhorpe whom he had known outside of Hogwarts – nor his first crush – that ignominy rested with the beautiful, feisty Roxanne, but she was never boring, and the words _old-fashioned_ could not have been less applicable. Isabelle was the kind of girl you sat by the fire with on winter evenings. Rose was the kind of girl who made you want to scale the astronomy tower, swim the lake, anything to impress her.

Much as he didn't like to admit it, Rose was partially right. The hurt that had accompanied their break up had faded to a dull ache which had grown less and less over the following weeks. He missed her, how nicely they had worked as a pair, but he wasn't madly heartbroken either. His heart might be a little battered, but it certainly wasn't broken.

THere was a sound from the doorway, and he looked up to see Rose hovering uncertainly in the doorway. Sometimes, when she caught him off guard, he still caught his breath when he stared at her. She could never be called beautiful, but there was something about her face that made it hard to look away. Her body, well, that was enough to make a grown man cry.

He tore his eyes away as she slipped into the room and perched tentatively on the mattress next to him. A moment, and then he felt her small hand on his arm. He shifted, and wrapped his arms around wondering how they fitted so well, how, for two such tall people, they weren't all elbows and hips. He felt her face press against his shoulder, and her arms encircle his waist.

'I'm sorry', she whispered into his shoulder, and then she pulled back.

Oddly, he didn't want her to go.

…

 **The Hallways**

 **17oo hours**

 **...**

Lucy was hurrying along, skipping down the staircase that lead from Ravenclaw Tower where she had been visiting Molly and Ruthie, when she bumped head first into Tommy Tillian. This being Tillian, she rebounded somewhat, and, in an attempt to balance herself, accidentally put her foot through the trick staircase with a thump.

This was not a good position to be in. This Lucy knew for a fact. And try and she might, wiggling for all she was worth, she couldn't free her foot. Her wand was in her pocket, but she didn't grab it, she didn't want to be perceived as the instigator, nor did she want to give Tillian any more reason to start anything. So instead she waited, and hoped he would pass by.

Which he didn't of course.

'Loo-roll!' He sounded almost happy to see her. 'You look just like a weasel caught in a trap. In fact, you _are_ a weasel caught in a trap.' He looked inordinately pleased with his joke and sniggered unpleasantly.

'Look', Lucy could feel her good mood evaporating like so much boiling water. 'Leave me alone okay. I don't get any pleasure from these interactions, you don't get any enjoyment from them. Why don't we just make things nice and easy for each other and agree never to see each other again.'

It was a no-go. In the grand scheme of no-goes it was nearer to a why-did-you-even-bother-starting? The likelihood of Tillian pulling her out of the trick stair was less than zero. The odds on him just walking away and leaving her to find another way to get her leg out was so far below zero she didn't even try to work it out.

In the midst of all this maths, a new voice joined the conversation.

'Hello Weasley, need a hand there?'

The reason Lucy had never spoken to Trevor Warrington despite being in the same year was not because he was in Slytherin, but because he was the Slytherin seeker and Lucy thought that it would be pushing team loyalty a little too far.

'That would be brill, thanks Warrington.'

The arrival of Trevor had entirely defused the situation. Maybe because Tillian knew that Warrington was possible the most popular Slytherin in his year, what with the gravitas of being the youngest player on the house team, but he didn't try to pick a fight and continued up the stairs towards the eagle-knocker.

Warrington gestured, then, on her smile, grabbed the tops of her arms and gave a heave. Her leg came flying out of the trick stair and she almost toppled over. Steadying herself, she thanked him but he cut across her.

'Don't worry about it.'

He had a very easy smile for a Slytherin and as they fell into step, heading down the staircase towards the Great Hall and dinner, Lucy found herself more than she would have thought.

'So that looked pretty nasty back there', Warrington queried as they passed the third floor.

'Yeah, Tillian has it in for me unfortunately. It was lucky you turned up before things got nasty to be honest, so thanks for that.'

'He's a nasty bully', Warrington said with surprising venom in his voice. At her questioning look, he explained. 'My little brother started Hogwarts this year, and Tillian decided to torment him. He's a bit of a runt, my brother', Warrington said with brotherly affection. 'Anyway, he stopped when me and Digby, that's my other brother, taught him a lesson. He's foul though.'

'Giles Warrington?' Lucy queried. He nodded. 'Yeah, Molly mention he was in her house. Molly's my little sister', she added for clarity.

'Cool.'

They entered the Great Hall which was filling up for dinner and made to part ways, but before he turned to follow the tables down to the Slytherin end, Lucy caught his arm.

'Call me Lucy, there's far too many Weasleys in this school already.'

He grinned at her, and she noticed the splattering of freckles across his nose that made him look so cheerful.

'In that case, I'm Trevor. Nice to meet you Lucy.'

Lucy sat down next to Letty at the Gryffindor table and deflected a few curious questions from Ella and Mary, tolerated some good-natured teasing from Violet and Bea, and helped herself to stew.

From over at the Slytherin table with his friends, Trevor waved at his new friend and she waved back, despite the odd looks.

 **…**

 **Outside the Gryffindor common room**

 **21oo hours**

 **…**

'You'll be late for curfew', The Fat Lady argued as Erin slipped out of the portrait hole. 'Filch will catch you. He's not as young as he once was, but he's still pretty nippy on his feet-'

'I'll be fine. I won't be long.'

Alex Simpson was wearily climbing the staircases towards Gryffindor Tower, potions essay finally completed, when he heard footsteps and saw Erin passing by, her long dreadlocks swinging as she strode purposely along.

Weariness forgotten, curiosity won out. He followed her.

* * *

 **A.N.**

 **Hello there, another Sunday, another chapter Sorry about the cliff-hanger!**

 **This one almost didn't get posted as today is Father's Day, but for you guys I have written this entire chapter this afternoon! I hope you enjoyed this! It's a little bit filler, but there are some plot-related points never fear!**

 **How do you guys feel about the pace of the plot? The development of the characters? The interactions between the family and friends? Let me know!**

 **I will do my best to get another chapter up next Sunday, but it's my little brother's eighteenth birthday party so potentially two weeks. Sorry guys!**

 **Drop me a review, and see you in a week or two!**

 **Love and hugs**

 **A.A.A.**

 **xxx**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

…

 **2nd November**

 **The Restricted Section of the Library**

 **0015 hours**

…

'Who's there?'

Erin jumped as wand-light flooded over her. She lent back from the large tomb of records she had been squinting at through the gloom. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the sudden brightness and she winced, shielding her face with her hands.

'Greengrass? What are you doing here?'

'I was going to ask you the same question.'

'Amélie Greengrass was one of the Ravenclaw prefects in their year, but was so quiet that Erin, who mostly hung out with the boisterous Lily, had never spoken to her beyond _'What was the Transfiguration homework for Turpin?'_ and _'How do you spell Cinquefoil?'_ She was beautiful, and Erin was a good judge of such things, but she also wore overlarge glasses that she was self-conscious about, if the way she kept pushing them up her nose was any indication. She had obviously inherited her looks from her father, for she was tan and dark, unlike her sister Cecelia who was blond and pert. In fact, but for the last name, the two could never have been described as sisters.

Erin vaguely remembered a number of years ago when their last name had been Philips, and not Greengrass, but felt too embarrassed to even broach the subject. Something's were good manners after all.

'Oxley? What are you doing here? The library shut hours ago.' Greengrass didn't seem to be on duty which was fortunate as Erin really didn't time to sit detention this week, or any week for that matter. She also sounded more curious than annoyed which boded well.

'There's a trick door behind some of the shelves over there', Erin waved a hand in the general direction of the east side of the library. 'How did you get in?'

'Our common room', Amélie answered promptly, 'has a special door. If you go through it then you end up here.'

'But your common room is four floors above the library, how does that work?'

'I believe that when you suppress time you can expand space. I've heard that there is a room on the seventh floor that works on the same principle. I've spoken to Professor Turpin about it who said I could examine the properties of fourth dimensional storage for my N.E.W.T. Transfiguration personal study next year.'

'That sounds fascinating.' Erin said.

'Are you mocking me?' Amélie's hand flew to her glasses, and pushed them back up her nose.

'What? No, of course not! I was just thinking that I'd never really thought about it before. Do you take Arithmancy? I remember reading somewhere that the runes carved into wizarding architecture can contain strong numerical magical which might explain how Hogwarts always seems to grow and shrink to suit the need of its occupants...' Erin trailed off.

'An interesting hypothesis', Amélie took the seat across the table from Erin and steepled her fingers. 'It is true that the classrooms enlarge to suit larger classes and, however the quantity of students in each year fluctuates, the dormitories are always the right size. Perhaps the castle was actually built in fourth, or even fifth dimensional space, and only appears in our dimension as required.'

Both girls fell silent for a minute, then:

'And a further intriguing point', Amélie pointed out with the ghost of a rye smile, 'is that you managed to change the subject without telling me why you are here. I would have thought a Gryffindor would have better things to do at midnight than study-' she pulled the heavy book across the table and flipped it around to look at the cover '- _A Consensus of Witches and Wizards Born in the 20_ _th_ _Century_. What on earth are you doing reading this?'

Erin chewed thoughtfully on her bottom lip for a few moments.

'You can't tell anyone.'

'Who would I tell?' Was Amélie's response which, while not entirely appeasing Erin, left her confident to carry on regardless.

'I'm trying to find my mum.'

'Your mum?'

'Yeah', Erin wondered what the expression that had skated so rapidly across Amélie's face had been. Something between understanding and pity perhaps. 'She left was I was just a baby, so it's always been just me and my dad. But this summer I found a box of her old stuff in the attic and I- I guess it just got me curious again. I don't remember her that much', she added. 'Just her smell, and the feel of her hair, and how she used to sing sometimes.'

'I have always found', Amélie said slowly, 'that when people leave, they tend to stay lost. When my father left-'

Erin looked up sharply, but Amélie was staring down at her interlocked fingers and did not meet her gaze.

'-I spent months writing him letters, trying to find his new address every time he moved on. I didn't get why Cecelia didn't want him to come back. I was only eleven', she added, as though this excused her desire to fix her family. 'And too stupid to know any better. Eventually I got the message and stopped trying. He didn't want to be a family any more, and I'm pretty sanguine about it now. But having my letters returned with " _Not found at this address"_ scrawled on them in my father's handwriting was pretty soul-destroying. Sometimes it's better to simply let them stay lost.'

'I had no idea', Erin said after a moment. 'And I'm so sorry about your dad. But I have to do this. My mum isn't like your dad, and I'm sure she's out there, trying to find me too. She wouldn't have left unless she had to.'

Amélie stood up, and Erin saw for the first time that she was in her pajamas, a thick blue dressing gown wrapped firmly around her. 'I hope for your sake that she is. But don't hope too hard, that's all I can advice. In the end, the only person it hurts is you.'

She was about to walk back into the shadowy depths of the library from whence she had come when Erin called after her.

'How do you know he hasn't changed his mind?'

'How do I know _who_ hasn't changed his mind?'

'Your father. I mean, that was four years ago, how do you know he hasn't been trying to find you?'

'It doesn't matter what he wants now', Amélie said resolutely. 'The real truth is now I don't want him to find me. He wasted his chance. He doesn't deserve to be my father any more.'

Perhaps she noticed how Erin had sagged in her seat at her disheartening words, but she checked her steps and came back to the table.

'It might be different for you', she said grudgingly. Really, she wasn't sure how to cope with this. Erin, who was loud and popular, was nice, but only in as much as she wasn't mean. She was always bubbling over with optimism, and looked through the people who didn't do the same. Amélie didn't really blame her for never taking an interest in the nerdy Ravenclaw. If there roles had been reversed, she wasn't sure she would have taken an interest in herself either.

'I- I could help you, if you wanted?' She said after a moment. Immediately she was shocked with herself, but Erin was looking so hopeful that it was impossible to backtrack. 'I mean, only if you wanted me to. I've had some practice at finding people who don't want to be found.'

'You'd help me? Oh thank you so much! I've been so confused about knowing where to start and-'

'On one condition', Amélie cut over Erin's delighted babbling. 'Don't become too invested in this. She might not want to be found.'

'She will.' Erin said with so much certainty that Amélie felt a bubble of pity rise up in her stomach. She squashed it. 'It's late now, we should head back to our dormitories. Why don't we meet tomorrow, I mean today, at nine? That's after your quidditch practice right?'

'It's a date!'

Amélie smiled, and was about to disappear back into the shadows when Erin called after her.

'What were you doing in the library in the wee small hours?'

Amélie pondered for a moment, then half turned.

'Maybe you weren't the only one seeking a little bit of guidance this evening.'

…

 **Outside the Gryffindor Portrait Hole**

 **013o hours**

…

Erin was about to tell an irate Fat Lady ( _'You woke me up! You deserve to sleep in the Forbidden Forest with Peeves!'_ ) when it swung open from the inside and Alex Simpson stepped out into the corridor.

'Alex?' For the second time that night, Erin jumped out of her skin. 'What are you doing?'

'I was going to ask you that.' He replied.

 _Deja Vu_ , Erin thought, and smiled ruefully. For some reason she couldn't stop seeing the ghost of the smile that had flashed across Amélie's lips.

'You know, if you need help studying', Alex suddenly looked very self-conscious as he gazed at her. 'I could help. I mean, I've noticed you sneaking into the library a lot recently, and I just thought that if you needed any help...'

It was the longest sentence she'd ever heard him utter.

'That's very kind of you', Erin replied, 'But actually I'm not studying, it's more of a _personal_ project I guess.'

A pause, and Alex didn't fill it.

'Well, I'd better be' She gestured vaguely to the common room, which was visible through the still open portrait hole.

'If you wanted any help with your project, I would be happy to help.'

'Thanks Alex, but I think I'm okay.'

Alex looked like he was steeling himself. Then, suddenly, he reached forwards and took her hand.

It felt odd, the way it always did when a guy was near her, clammy and uninviting. He took a step nearer and she realised that all he needed to do was reach down and he could kiss her. The ghost smile of Amélie flew though Erin's mind and she hastily stepped back.

'Please don't tell anyone I'm sneaking out, Alex.' She pleaded. 'I'm, er, seeing someone, and I don't want the others to know just yet.'

Alex never said a lot, but when he did, his words carried weight. So when Alex opened his mouth, Erin knew that he got it. Far more than any of her other friends could have done.

'I understand', he said, and turned and climbed through the portrait hole.

…

 **The Quidditch Pitch**

 **12oo hours**

…

'-a beautiful save from the Ravenclaw keeper Jason Inglebee, who passes back to Ravenclaw captain Robert Davies, and my, what a fine ass that boy has got-'

' _Miss Reading!'_

'Only the truth Professor, only the truth! Anyway, Davies heading for goal – dodges a bludger from Goyle, dodges a bludger from Bibbington-Smythe, dodges chaser Bullstrode, oh my, just the keeper to beat – RAVENCLAW SCORE! One hundred and seventy points to nothing. Slytherin just can't keep possession at all today. And while the beautiful Davies does a lap of the pitch may I just remind you to pay your respects to the wonderful Alfie Jordan who has allowed me the honour of commentating today as he is currently in detention. Alfie, our thoughts are with you!'

'What is happening in the game Miss Reading?'

'Absolutely nothing Professor, Slytherin simply can't keep possession at all. At the rate they're going this competition is only going to be playing with three teams.'

'Jessica, I know you're a Ravenclaw but please try and be impartial!'

'I'm just telling it like it is Professor! Oh look at that, Ravenclaw has possession again, and – _oh_ that was beautiful beater work from the power twins there, Rose Weasley are you watching this?'

Rose Weasley, who had indeed been watching the Goldstein twins with interest, jumped slightly as her name rang out over the stadium. She waved to Jessica in the commentator's box, and carried on scribbling in her notebook, occasionally staring at a play through the binoculars slung around her neck.

Ruby and Roger Goldstein were fourth years, but already had the making of players of the calibre of Rose herself. Perhaps it was their natural link as twins, but they could almost read each other's minds. Rose had always enjoyed studying the dynamics between the beaters on quidditch teams, at Hogwarts and in the league. She and Roxy had been as close a sisters growing up, and the Ravenclaw beaters were, well, twins. The Slytherin beaters were frankly dismal, but then everyone knew that Goyle didn't like Bibbington-Smythe who was an idiot in everyone's book. Hufflepuff, too, suffered from having out of sync beaters as Laurence Livington was a burly seventh year, and Zoe Smith was a fifth year who had a serious attitude problem after Livington had caught her skiving off practise to make out with her boyfriend in that oh-so-classy place, the broom cupboard on the third floor.

'Corner passes to Stretton, who reverse passes to Davies and - _Merlin's Pants!_ \- what was that?'

Warrington had suddenly lurched, and fallen straight off his broom into the dirt at the foot of the Slytherin goal posts. He looked so shocked for a minute that everyone froze, even the players, and then he waved a hand over his head.

'Warrington's caught the snitch!' Jessica crowed, 'Slytherin get the snitch but Ravenclaw win by twenty points! Take that you slimy-'

Jessica was saved from the detention that had claimed her predecessor by the roar of noise that had emitted from the crowds of blue and bronze.

…

 **The Hogwarts Grounds**

 **12oo hours**

…

'Well, Rose will be ecstatic, this means Slytherin is pretty much out of the running now and it doesn't matter that they beat us', Said Al as he strolled back up towards the castle after the last straggling spectators.

'They both played very well', Lizzie returned diplomatically, as Albus pulled open the heavy double doors and gestured for her to walk through them. She swung her arms about slightly as she waited for him to close the doors, and accidentally whacked him on the arm when he came too close.

And all at once, and without giving her time to do more than potentially think _"oh shit!"_ , he had kissed her square on the mouth.

He had the same way of smiling slightly as he kissed her as James did, and, though he was slightly taller than his brother, Al was cradling her in a way that made her feel small, and almost breakable. She didn't like it. She wanted to look up and see James's cheerful, twinkling brown eyes staring down at her, she wanted to feel James rough stubble against her cheek because James was always busy, and never had time to properly shave. Albus's face was smooth, and had none of the tan and freckles of his outdoorsy brother.

She yanked herself out of his grip and staggered back.

'What the hell are you doing?'

'I- What?' He was gaping at her rather like a stranded fish, colour rushing to his face. 'I- _fuck_ , Lizzie I'm so sorry-'

It was all so awkward that Lizzie felt tears begin to prick behind her eyelids. She tried to blink them away, but they were insistent, clouding her vision.

James had always hated it when she cried. He was too used to the hard-as-nails females in his family who probably could withhold dragon flames without breaking a sweat. He used to pat her awkwardly on the back, and push a chocolate frog over to her with an uncomfortable grin, then go and hide with Roxanne and Fred until she was herself again.

These thoughts of James were making her feel sick. She had been completely justified in breaking up with him, but he had been so much fun. He'd made her feel so alive, so _happy_. She'd never wanted Al to think of her like this. And suddenly, seeing him staring at her so beseechingly, like a puppy that was about to be kicked, but was going to stay there anyway, she snapped.

'Albus, stop this now. I have made it perfectly clear that I am not interested in you in anyway. For Merlin's sake, I'm in love with your brother! When will you get that into your thick skull?'

There was so much hurt on Albus's face that she wanted to reach out to him, to apologise for her harsh words, however true they had been. But then his face hardened.

'I'm so sick of James getting everything first!' He erupted. 'He's the brightest one, the best at quidditch, has the most friends, and he fucking gets you as well!'

' _Gets me?'_ she screamed back, 'I'm not a fucking object! How dare you you treat me like I'm, I'm-' But those annoying, would-have-frightened-James-away tears were pouring down her face. 'I though we were friends Al', she whispered, '-and I thought I meant more to you than another way of competing with James...'

'You are Lizzie, you know how much you mean to me-'

He tried to reach out to her, but she slapped his hand away.

'Just go away Al', she sobbed. 'Please just go away.'

'Lizzie? What's happened?'

'Oh for fuck's sake', she heard Albus mutter, 'Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee.'

'Belinda, Rosemary, it's nothing, really! Let's just go to the common room.'

'Potter, what did you do?'

…

Albus was having a bad day, and, when you thought about it, it was all James's fault. He wasn't quite sure how it was James's fault, especially when James was currently working in a bar five hundred miles away, but it usually was his fault and so what was the point of breaking with tradition?

The jinx though, even Al couldn't blame that on James.

Albus was glad that most people were currently in the Great Hall having lunch because it allowed him to wind his way at speed back to Gryffindor Tower with the bare minimum of people seeing his humiliation. Who knew antlers were actually that big? He was Head Boy! Screaming in humiliation at the girl who had just rejected him was hardly dignified, even if it had covered the sound of his heart breaking in two.

Scorpius was hardly sympathetic, though he did get rid of the antlers with a minimal amount of hilarity.

'What were you thinking? You know Lizzie doesn't fancy you. _Hell!_ Everyone knows Lizzie doesn't fancy you, and then you completely humiliated her. I'm sorry Al, I know we're friends and all but get your head out of your arse!'

Albus, unsurprisingly, wasn't soothed by Scorpius's words, and his temper, still bubbling at the surface after his encounter with the best of Belinda Bones's jinxes, steamed once more out of control.

'Fine! You know best of course. Maybe I'm blind when it comes to Lizzie but least my head isn't so far up my arse it's a hat! Stop moping over Isabelle and actually remember what happened at that party in fifth year. Then maybe you'll stop being so bloody pompous!'

'I don't know what you're talking about', Scorpius said with false calm, but Al couldn't help noticing that the back of his neck had gone red.

…

 **The Gryffindor Changing Rooms**

 **20oo hours**

…

It was hard to say who was most distracted in practise that night. There was a distinct coolness in the air, a tension that needed a knife to be sawn through. Lily and Keegan were so deliberately not looking at each other that their passes were wildly inaccurate and Erin kept having to fly low to retrieve the quaffle. She herself refused to go anywhere near Alex and the goalposts, causing Alex to fall off his broom when the quaffle, _finally_ , came anywhere near the goalposts. Scorpius was circling at least thirty feet above all the other players, ostensibly trying to find the snitch. But as the snitch was currently fluttering by Rose's left shoulder, and had been for at least the last minute, she had to assume he was trying to avoid her. Even Lucy seemed distracted, accidentally sending a bludger almost thirty degrees out of alignment and almost catching Keegan right in the unmentionables.

Eventually, Rose gave up and the seven discontented players hit the mud and aimlessly began to head back to the changing rooms. Rose hung back, waiting for Scorpius, but he hurried past her with Keegan. The back of his neck was red.

'What is going on?'

There was a certain frankness to Rose's voice that said she was fed up to the back teeth and more besides. It was also a voice that said that she was going to get answers because if she didn't, her quidditch team would be ruined and then she would detonate like a very large bomb, taking her unfortunate team with her.

There was an uncomfortable silence, and some general shifting of weight, but no-one said anything which, as it turned out, was the wrong thing to do.

'I have never seen you play so badly. There is no communication, so I say again: What is going on?'

'Nothing', Lily groused, not looking up from her careful inspection of her fingernails. 'Merlin Rose, calm down.'

Another silence. Rose sighed and looked over to the table where her sneakerscope was supposed to stand before she'd coined it to Hugo for information. It was incredibly lax of her not to have replaced it yet.

'If no-one is willing to give me any answers I shall have to assume that whatever the issue is, then it exists off my quidditch pitch.' Rose stretched out the sore muscles in her right shoulder. 'Which leads me to implement a new rule: Anything that happens off the pitch, stays off the pitch. I will not have petty arguments and hormone-driven quarrels messing up my team-'

'For Merlin's _sake!_ Rose you can't just force us to put aside everything that makes us human just because you're obsessed with this bloody sport. I'm so sick of all your stupid rules. We all are!' Lily exploded, 'You think that just because you put yet another stupid rule in place that it will magically solve all our problems? What the hell is wrong with you? You're a machine when it comes to this bloody sport!'

The changing room was very quiet when she finished. She buried her head in her hands, suddenly feeling very tired, and very foolish.

'I said at the beginning of term', Rose said, trying to hide her shock, 'That I would not run this team as a dictatorship. Lily, if you have problems, talk to us about them and we can try and fix them! I don't understand, I thought you loved quidditch, and cared about it too.'

'You know how much I love this sport Rosie', Lily said tiredly, 'But I'm not like you. I want a life outside the pitch as well. I want to go to Hogsmeade with a boy, not have to worry about finishing assignments at three in the morning because I've been at the fifth training session of the week. Rosie, this isn't a professional training camp, it's school, and I think you sometimes forget that.'

Rose took a step back, surprised at the genuine tone of her little cousin's words. She glanced over at Scorpius, who was staring back at her, his face entirely blank.

'I'm sorry if you think I'm driving you all too hard', she said stiffly, 'But I feel with this competition, and the opportunities it presents-'

'I'm so sick of this damned competition!' Lily yelled. 'I'm sick of how it's become all you care about any more. I'm sick of how you expect all this rules to make us into the machine you are!'

'Guys.'

'I'm a machine?' Rose wasn't sure whether to be flattered, or hurt beyond belief. 'You think I'm a machine?'

'Guys!'

'Are you even human Rose?' Lily snapped back. 'Don't you feel like normal human beings? Don't you want to have functioning relationships like normal human beings? Because it bloody well doesn't seem like it!'

'GUYS!'

'WHAT?' Rose and Lily snapped, turning on Alex who was stood in a corner, apparently completely ignoring the argument.

He stepped forwards and laid something on the bench by the two cousins and they both stared down as the rest of the team gathered around them.

A small charm was laid against the dark wood of the bench, a recording rune etched into its surface.

* * *

 **A/N.**

Goodness, what a lot of arguments! This chapter is all very dramatic, but I hope it moves the plot along a bit. I know things have been moving quite slowly, but hopefully the next few chapters will be a little more interesting.

Sorry about missing last weeks update! My baby brother turned eighteen so there were parties and presents to be sorted, and lots of alcohol to drink of course!

Plot bunnies:

Cinquefoil is a perennial herbaceous flowering plant in the rose family. In ancient folk lore, if you filled a handkerchief with Cinquefoil and placed it under your pillow then help and guidance would come your way. I thought it was a nice touch.

Recording charms were an invention of my own, though admittedly, not a very original one. As magic tends to play havoc with muggle bugging systems, I decided that sneaky wizards probably have their own ways of spying on people!

What did you think?

Was Lily justified in her shouting match with Rose?

What did we make of Amélie Greengrass? I've been waiting to introduce her for a while now!

Is our dear Scorpius beginning to have feelings for Rose again?

Let me know!

Love and hugs

A.A.A.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

 **...  
November 3rd  
Coach Hendrix's Office  
09oo hours  
...**  
Rose was surprised to see Rhoda Mantis leaning against the wall a the back of the office when Coach Hendrix yelled for her to come in. Though admittedly the surprise Rose felt was a fraction of the shock that flitted across Mantis's, and to some degree, Coach Hendrix's face, when Rose, without saying a word, slammed thirteen listening runes onto the desk between them.

'I need permission to put dispelling wards around our changing rooms', she said without greeting or preamble. 'I have already placed a number of precautionary deception detectors in place, but I want to increase security to a level that I deem acceptable.'

It had taken most of Rose's extensive ingenuity, and the best part of three hours to find all the listening runes. Some had been carved with intricate camouflage runes, others disillusioned. One memorable one had been in liquid form, and sat in the puddle caused by the overflow from the showers. Some, like the one Alex had found, had been so obviously visible that Rose was certain they were decoys, or perhaps a test of intelligence. Either way, it was humiliating that it had taken her so long to become aware of this particular issue. Damn Hugo and his covetous need for her sneakerscope!

On a positive note, the team had been too busy planning the most painful ways possible to kill the secret listener to continue their own fights, and peace was once again restored. At least that was how it would appear to any sneaky bugger listening in. After all, there is nothing worse than letting the enemy know about disharmony within the ranks.

Coach Hendrix and Rhoda Mantis exchanged looks as Rose pulled the charms from the pockets of her robes and slammed them down, but she ignored this, instead focusing on the charms which were vibrating slightly, a gentle him emanating from them.

'I've already tried using tracking charms on them', she continued. 'Whoever procured them took care not to touch them with their skin, or I would have been able to track the perpetrator through DNA recognisable flash-memory sensory charms.'

'That's very advanced magic, Miss Weasley', commented Mantis, gazing inscrutably at Rose, who shrugged.

'My family is made up of aurors, and curse breakers and most dangerously, reporters. There's not much I don't know about security and tracking.'

Mantis thought that, had it been anybody else, that statement would have sounded like boasting. But Rose Weasley spoke so matter-of-factly that it seemed as blasé as saying that the grass is green and the sky is blue, and that fire crabs and manticores should not be bred together. One grew to expect the unexpected around the Gryffindor captain, Mantis was noticing.

'I give you permission to employ whatever security you are capable of producing.' Hendrix said finally.

'Cheers Coach.'

'Now, to the reason I actually arranged this meeting.' The coach continued, opening a drawer in the desk and extracting a file held together with spellotape. Hendrix tapped it with his wand and the sheaves of parchment spread themselves neatly across the desk as the spellotape wriggled aside.

The file, Rose knew, was a dossier of the Gryffindor quidditch team and all facts pertaining to this. Rose also knew that within the same drawer (protected against alohamora, but not a hair grip) were three identical dossiers for the other house teams. She knew this, having successfully stolen, duplicated and returned two out of three of these files in previous years. The information inside had been sold to Hugo for a years supply of industrial strength stamina potions.

Rose didn't bother to try and read the notes upside-down. She'd written most of them in the first place, including a few juicy misleading pieces in case she wasn't the only one sneaking about.

'Succession?' Rose hazarded.

'Indeed.' Coach Hendrix affirmed. 'Your recommendation?'

'Lily Potter', Rose said without hesitation. 'She is incredibly dedicated, the best flyer on the team with the possible exception of me. She has a natural charisma which makes her ideal for a strong leadership position. But mostly she cares about the well-being of the team and is experienced enough to be the natural choice.'

'There is no familial bias present in this decision?' Mantis asked from where she was propping the wall up.

'She is the logical choice', Rose said, her voice level.

'And you would still choose her, despite your disagreement yesterday?' Mantis questioned.

Rose steepled her fingers. 'I would have thought', she said with a bite of impatience in her voice, 'that the staff would have better things to do with their time than listen to idle gossip.'

Mantis raised an eyebrow, her face inscrutable.

'Fine', Rose huffed. 'Yes, we argued last night, but what does that have to do with anything? Personal preference has nothing to do with this decision. It is a decision about what is best for the team as a whole. Lily has proven herself a thousand times over, on the pitch and off it. She will be the most experienced flyer on the team next year and I have complete faith in her.'

Both Hendrix and Mantis were surveying her now, but Rose refused to be cowed. She stared coolly back until the coach spoke.

'I'll take it under advisement. Don't forget to close the door on your way out.'

…

 **The Hogwartian Underground Recreational Club**

 **11oo hours**

…

After a diversion to the kitchens for a late breakfast, Rose and Scorpius headed along the corridor, down a flight of steps, and promptly lost themselves in the warren of tunnels and hallways beneath the school. Finally, they arrived at a solid wall that was only pretending, and gained entry to the most exclusive club Hogwarts had ever known.

Celia Raventhorpe was sat by the fire playing poker with a number of stern-faced sixth and seventh years. Scorpius joined the table, conjuring a chair from thin air as quickly as his gold transfigured into chips. This left Rose free to pursue her business. As she passed the table, she couldn't help but feel sorry for them. She might have been good at poker, but she had nothing on Scorpius who had once doubled his shares with nothing more than a pair of fours and a very straight face.

Hugo's office was immaculate as always, and her brother, seated among the intimidating sets of shelves reaching up to the ceiling gave him a Mephistophelian aura. It was hard to explain really; there was a deep, almost inhuman humour that emanated from Hugo's general sneakiness that made people instinctively like him, even when he was fleecing them of their hard earned (or, more commonly, easily inherited) galleons. It was in the chuckle from down at the base of his spine that made him seem more tricky than Loki and somehow as dependable as a house-elf all at once. It shouldn't have been possible, and yet it was.

The fact that Hugo deliberately cultivated a Mephistophelian act was only exacerbated by the dim lighting in the windowless underground room that made his light brown eyes glow amber through the gloom. It cast his features into deep shadows, so that the length of his nose (something Rose had always teased him about when they were little and therefore had time for such nonsense) became Roman and hawkish. His dark robes, the grin that was so accommodating – too accommodating – you would soon realise. And yet people always came back. That was the real art of playing Mephistopheles: the seductive enticement of _more._

Rose knew her brother was a good person. He was the kind of small child to rescue flies with a cup and piece of parchment and set them free at the bottom of the garden, rather than condemn them with the swish of a rolled up Daily Propher. And yes, his morals might be slightly on the grey side – but then, whose weren't these days? Her own talents included picking locks and intimidating stuck-up quidditch players with ego-complexes too large for a broom to take off with. After all, was ambition wrong? No, of course not!

Rose well remembered her own sorting, though many years had passed. Unlike much of her family, she hadn't wanted to go to Hogwarts, but the Victor Krum training school of quidditch in Morocco. This had always been a long shot, and was vetoed immediately by, well, everyone. So Rose had gone to Hogwarts with reasonably good grace, which was fortunate really, because otherwise she might never had met Scorpius, and then were would she be?

The hat had slipped over her eyes, only being held up by the tangle of ginger curls that had - _Thanks-be-to-Merlin_ – faded to a much darker red over the years. She had jumped when a little voice had echoed around her head.

'Hm, a sound mind, plenty of determination and, my, such ambition! I have not seen such ambition in a great many years. Then where to put you? Slytherin would be the most obvious choice - but what is this?'

'I can't be in Slytherin, Mr Hat.' Rose thought firmly, as though telling a small child that poking a sleeping dragon was the best way to loose fingers.

'Slytherin would help you, they prize determination, stubbornness, ambition – things that you have in abundance.'

'Mr Hat, I simply cannot be in Slytherin. Their quidditch team is simply appalling. With the Gryffindor gene pool of the current generation, statistically they are the most certain choice.' Rose thought matter-of-factly. 'I simply will not threaten my career by playing with substandard players.'

'You are an interesting girl Miss Weasley, and stubborn to the point of arrogance', the hat responded.

'Can it not be argued', Rose returned, 'that courage is merely to the stubborn determination to see a goal through to the end?'

'A scholar too', the hat mused. Then: 'Very well – GRYFFINDOR!'

A roar of noise, and she was seated between Scorpius and a gangly boy with glasses who introduced himself as Keegan. Now, judging by the fact that Slytherin was at the bottom of the house tables, Rose thought she'd made a very good call.

…

'Ah Rosie', Hugo said now, looking up from his parchment. 'My favourite sister. I thought I might be seeing you.'

'I'm your only sister Hugo', Rose reminded him good-naturedly. 'And you're right of course about why I'm here, though I would like to know how you knew.'

'My informants stay anonymous', Hugo answered, 'Or I would soon find myself without informants at all.'

'In other words, Lily told you.' Rose laughed. 'And you were trying to make it sound more dramatic.'

'Something like that', he smiled, then pressed his fingertips together. 'Now, to business. I have a large shipment arriving in-' an ornate pocket watch was extracted from the robes, examined, and replaced, '-six and a half minutes.'

'I need three.'

'Very well. I thought that you should know that at the beginning of the year I sold a large shipment of listening charms to an anonymous buyer. I did not connect it to this competition until later however as my sources are, alas, not in the same league as those the ministry use.' He smiled ruefully.

'Give it time', Rose said absently. She mused a moment. 'You know nothing about the buyer at all? What about payment? You could track them using flash-memory recognition?'

'No can do. Only the goblin who minted the coins in the first place were there.'

'Curious.' Rose lent forwards, surveying her brother. Despite quidditch rivalry, the siblings both knew the rules: Family first. It was because of this rule that Rose felt safe enough to expound a theory.

'I'm questioning why they bought them from you. When I first found them I thought Rhoda Mantis had hidden them to gain extra Intel on the competition, but a ministry officiated scout would never come to you. The ministry has far more reputable means of getting what they want.'

'So you suspect someone at Hogwarts? A student?' Hugo surmised.

'Very few students could get through my wards. It is a conundrum.'

A moments silence and neither spoke, but both knew they were each wondering the same thing. Was Rose really as clever as she thought she was?

…

 **The Hogwarts Grounds**

 **19oo hours**

…

'I don't remember signing up for this', Erin puffed as the seven scarlet-clad members of the Gryffindor quidditch team jogged alongside the banks of the Black Lake, running parallel with the Forbidden Forest.

'It's a three kilometre warm up run', Rose answered. She alone wasn't breathing hard, or even sweating. She was running backwards as well, merrily bouncing over the tree roots and small stones that caused her team so many wobbles. 'You should be able to do this in your sleep!'

'At least it's only three kilometres', Scorpius murmured to Keegan who was running beside him. 'I wouldn't put it past our dear captain to enforce mandatory ten mile runs every morning!'

'I still might!' Rose joked, 'If you don't stop nattering.'

'The end is in sight', Lily crowed, as Rose cut away from the main path. 'But a lot more will die before we finally win-'

'Shut up Lily!' Erin groaned, and sank onto the frozen ground.

Finding the incriminating charms the previous evening seemed to have eased the tension within the team. Lily and Rose had awkwardly looked at each other, their feet, and each other again before deciding to stop being so silly and apologise. Since then, Scorpius, too, had reverted back to his usual affectionate self, sniggering at her jokes and impassioned speeches about quidditch, slinging an arm around her shoulders as she lent into him. They'd spent last night in the comfortable chairs by the fire, playing exploding snap and watching the first flakes of snow begin to fall.

Though Scorpius might have felt that things were back to normal between them, Rose did not. But she valued their friendship far too much to risk scaring him off again by asking what had been wrong. It seemed almost shameful, not to mention weak, to admit how her heart raced with every distracted touch. Instead, she stored these secrets away, and focused on better, more important things instead, like quidditch.

She had come across the clearing on one her early morning runs, found it reasonably enclosed and, best of all, surrounded by tall spruces. It had proved virtually in-discoverable, unless you had nothing better to do with your time than hike for miles through uneven terrain.

Despite their good-humoured groans, the team flew better than they had in weeks that night. It was as though the threat of external enemies had brought their own arguments into perspective and proved that they were mole-holes, and not the mountains once thought. Still, Rose was mindful of Lily's words the night before, and decided to not give homework that night, something which reduced her teammates to a shocked silence.

As they returned, Rose and Scorpius carrying the heavy trunk containing, and in two cases, restraining, the balls, Rose caught a glimpse of movement through the trees. After sending the others onwards towards the school, and more importantly the showers, she and Scorpius set the trunk down and went to examine the source of the disturbance.

It turned out to be Findley, a large, gently squirming sack slung over one shoulder.

'Hullo', he said. 'What are you doing here?'

Rose smiled at him, and Scorpius managed a brief grimace of greeting.

'Training.' She answered. 'Endurance, stamina, that sort of thing.'

'I see.' He replied. 'Look what I've got here.'

Rose stepped forwards.

Within the sack was a large black egg, about the size of a quaffle. All over the smooth surface were raised silvery-blue veins which writhed across the surface like river snakes. The egg itself rocked backwards and forwards, despite the confines of the sack. It seemed to tremble, then fell still.

'But that's a dragon egg!' Rose gasped. 'Hagrid's taught us all about them, they're really rare in this part of the world.'

'This one is', Findley grinned. 'It's a Swedish Snort-Snout, and they're not indigenous to this part of Europe at all.'

'I wonder how it got here', Rose breathed. She reached forwards, then froze. 'Can I?' She asked, and Findley nodded.

The egg was heavier than she had anticipated, and was smoother than silk against her skin. She nestled it against her chest, feeling the unborn dragon's fluttering heartbeat vibrating through the shell into her hands.

'It's near hatching', Findley said. 'A few more days, that's all.'

'Don't the mothers usually breathe fire on their eggs to encourage them to hatch?' Scorpius asked. 'How has it come to be here in the forest?'

'You're right.' Findley said, though Rose noticed he spoke more to her, than to Scorpius. For some reason, she found this annoying. 'But obviously we would know if a full-sized Short-Snout was living in the forest. I expect another creature found the egg and raised it as part of their brood, then abandoned it when it didn't hatch immediately. I think it was most likely left behind the last time a nesting female was at Hogwarts, when your parents were at school here.'

He gestured for \rose to place the egg back into the sack, but she hesitated, suddenly not wanting to let the fluttering heartbeat go.

'What will happen to it?' She queried.

'I'll contact the ministry, and they'll send a team along to export this little guy to the sanctuary in Romania.'

'Isn't that where your uncle works Rosie?' Scorpius asked, and she nodded.

'I'll have to write to Uncle Charlie, get him to keep me updated.'

Findley again gestured to the sack, but Rose turned to Scorpius.

'Do you want to hold it?'

He nodded, and she gently dropped the egg into his arms.

'Imagine if we played quidditch on dragons!' Rose whispered to Scorpius who chuckled.

'You're lethal enough in the air, my dear!'

They stared at the egg for a few moments more, then unwillingly gave it back to Findley, who carefully placed it back into the sack. Then they picked up the trunk and began to jog back across the grounds towards to castle.

Behind them, Findley gave a low chuckle, amused at the lengths Rose Weasley was willing to go to win.

* * *

 **Sorry this is twenty-fours late! I can only apologise, and hope this makes up for the wait!**

 **What did you think?**

 **Is Rose finally getting the message? I certainly hope so, homework as well as training – I ask you!**

 **As for you guys who were questioning the whole Rose/Scorpius or Rose/Findley dynamic, I hope this gives you your answers, albeit in a subtle way!**

 **Thanks to all the wonderful guest reviewers who I can't thank directly – You guys rock!**

 **Review!**

 **Love and hugs**

 **A.A.A.**


	14. Chapter 14

_A/N. A long chapter to make up for some of the irregularities of the past few weeks. I'm putting my A/n at the beginning however, because this chapter has some pretty sad moments in it among the general story. Therefore, this chapter is rated T+._

* * *

 _Chapter Fourteen_

…

 **19th December**

 **The Great Hall**

 **07oo hours**

…

During the last three weeks if term, Hufflepuff played Ravenclaw and, though they lost, it was far closer than anyone had anticipated. The Gryffindors were glad of the fact, pleased that neither team had managed to pull ahead on a strong point lead, meaning that the scarlet and gold players were most definitely _not_ out of the running for the cup.

The last Hogsmeade trip of term came the last weekend before the Christmas holidays began and Rose, who had been planning on enforcing an all day practice, decided to let her team make the trek through the snow and sunshine to the village. A decision, as it turned out, that suited everyone.

…

'I was going to make you guys complete suicide runs for me all day today before half my team swans off home for Christmas and eats their bodyweight in mince pies-', Rose began as the team, and some notable additions such as Albus, paused with their breakfast to listen. '-But even I am susceptible to the festive spirit around us.' She gestured good-naturedly to the ceiling where snowflakes fell from the enchanted sky only to evaporate before it could melt on the house tables. 'So I have decided to give you all the day off to do whatever you want. Consider it an early Christmas present from me.'

Lily and Erin let out cheers, and conversation bubbled forth once again. Rose, with a small smile, returned to her breakfast, scooping scrambled egg whites onto her fork. Scorpius, beside her, nudged her arm.

'Good call', he muttered under his breath.

'They would only forget everything over the holidays anyway', she whispered back, her breath tickling his ear.

'Nice try, but I know you better than that', he reached out, and squeezed her arm. 'You actually listened to Lily.'

'Family always comes first, and she was speaking sense.' Came her reply, and Scorpius swallowed back a laugh as her warm breath ghosted across his skin again. 'But she's not the only one who's told me a few truths this year. I guess I just started listening.'

'What are you two love birds whispering about?' Albus's loud voice broke through their quiet speculations, and they shifted, space growing between them again. But still, by some unspoken, perhaps unconscious, agreement they remained close together so it would only take the smallest of effort to reach out, to caress a face, to squeeze a hand, to simply brush skin. Neither seemed to notice this, but Albus certainly did, and though he managed to keep the grin from his lips, he couldn't hide it in his green eyes.

'So who's actually staying at Hogwarts this Christmas?' Dinah seemingly hadn't noticed anything amiss, and asked the group in general.

'I'm heading for the warmer climate of Egypt', Jenny answered around her mug of coffee, 'And I know Karen and Lisa are both heading home.'

'Looks like you'll have the dorm to yourself then Rose', Dinah said to Rose who pouted theatrically. 'I'm not staying either. And I get two Christmases', she added, a slight swagger behind her words. 'Which means double presents losers!'

'My family doesn't do presents', Jenny said. 'We prefer not to be spoilt rotten and actually think about the true meaning of Christmas.'

'Yeah', Dinah sniggered. 'Presents!'

'You sound exactly like my cousin Daisy', Lily piped up. 'She always throws a fit if Uncle Dudley and Aunt Sylvia don't buy her more presents than last year.'

Albus shuddered. 'Please never compare Dinah to Daisy, Lils. Nothing could be more insulting!'

'Hey!' Dinah moved to kick Albus under the table, but accidentally caught Sean instead who kicked her back, laughing at her pouting face.

'Who else is staying?' Keegan asked, over the noise of Dinah and Sean apologising in a highly non-verbal way.

'Professor Marchling gave me a copy of the list, seen as I'm Head Boy and all.' Al puffed out his chest. 'Only Sean and Mack are heading home from our dormitory.'

'Ah Mack', Lily sighed, 'Do you think it's time we forgave him yet? I've barely seen him since that disastrous match.'

'You're kidding right?' Rose looked askance and the very idea. 'He-'

'I know, I know, he ruined your chances at the cup and the tournament, honestly Rose, you're a stuck record!' Lily interjected, brusquely, a slight edge to her voice.

'I was going to say that he hurt Scorpius, and I'm not ready to forgive him that.' Rose said quietly and Lily flushed slightly, embarrassed.

'Right, sorry Rose.'

Under the table, Scorpius found his best friend's hand, and gave it a gentle squeeze. She didn't pull away from the contact.

'Well I'm going home.' Erin said over the silence that had fallen. Both Rose and Scorpius looked hastily up from their entwined hands and pulled apart. 'It's just me and my dad so I can't wait to see him.' There was something of forced cheeriness about her statement, but sincerity shone through when she spoke of her father. 'What about you Alex?'

Alex gave a slight start. 'Oh, yes I'm going home. I get to do Muggle and magic Christmases, which is enjoyable.'

Lucy lent forwards. 'How do muggle traditions differ from ours?' She queried.

Keegan, under cover of Alex's reply, whispered to Lily: 'Are you staying?'

'Yeah', she replied. 'I've got a mountain of studying to do which I know won't happen if I go home.'

'I'm staying too', he whispered back. Then, steeling himself: 'Maybe we could study together some time?'

'I don't know if that's a good idea', she answered slowly. 'You know what happens when we're alone together.'

'What if I don't care?' Suddenly brave in the knowledge that their friends were still discussing their Christmas plans, he reached out and grabbed her hand under the table, entwining their fingers. 'What if we just screw Rose's rules and go for it anyway?'

'You already know why we can't', Lily tried to be serious, but his sudden burst of courage was contagious. 'We've lasted this long-'

'And I can't last any longer! Look, don't give me an answer now. Come to Hogsmeade with me today, on a proper date, and then give me an answer. Don't worry', he added, seeing her open her mouth to spout difficulties. 'We'll keep in on the down-low. What do you think?'

She opened and closed her mouth. It was a very tempting offer, especially when his thumb was tracing patterns on the back of her palm. But all the reasons they'd agreed to put their relationship on hold were still applicable, and seemed even more prominent with her cousin sat only a few seats down from them.

'Yes', she answered, surprising both of them. 'But it has to be a secret.'

'It's a date.'

...

Whilst, unbeknownst to anyone but themselves, Lily and Keegan were making plans, a barn owl swooped down amongst the Gryffindors and deposited a letter in Albus's breakfast. The owl paused to dip her beak into his goblet of pumpkin juice, then took off again with a flutter of wings. Albus wiped tomato ketchup from the parchment with the sleeve of his robes and slit the envelope open, scanning the contents quickly. Then, breakfast forgotten, he rose to his feet.

'Where are you going?' Scorpius asked, and he mumbled something about being right back before crossing the hall to where Lizzie and her two best friends Belinda and Rosemary were sat. He hovered for a moment, not wanting to interrupt their conversation, but then Natalie Rivers looked up and noticed him and the seventh year girls fell silent.

Things had been, not frozen perhaps, but definitely frosty between the two heads over the last month. Albus had tried apologising, tried reasoning, tried giving her space, but she had remained stubbornly resistant to everything. Their patrols were frankly painful, their meetings with the prefects stilted and terse. She spoke to him, when she spoke to him at all, with excessive politeness, and no warmth at all.

He supposed he did deserve it. But today was a last ditch attempt to get her to forgive him before she went home for the holidays.

'Hello, how are you all doing?'

'Good morning Potter.'

Belinda Bones seemed to have appointed herself spokeswoman for Lizzie where Albus was concerned, but Albus discounted any rudeness that might emanate from her. He understood her loyalty to her friend, and respected her for it.

'Lizzie, can I speak to you for a minute?' Albus asked.

'Of course Al', Lizzie sighed, twisting her body towards him, her face set. 'What is it?'

'Are you going to Hogsmeade with anyone today?'

'Are you joking Potter?' Belinda exploded. 'I would have thought that you would have gotten it into your big head by now, she's not interested!'

'Belinda, that's enough.' Lizzie said, quieting her friend. 'No, I wasn't going to go at all, actually. I have homework to finish.'

'Okay, that's a shame because I was hoping you could meet me in The Three Broomsticks so we can go over the patrol schedules for next term before you leave for Christmas.' Al replied, crossing his fingers in the pocket of his robes.

Lizzie thought for a minute. 'Okay, I'll meet you there. Butterbeer does help with the paperwork.'

'Thanks Lizzie', he returned. 'So, I guess I'll meet you there at eleven?'

'I'll meet you there.'

'Thank you.'

'You already said that.'

…

With Albus across the hall and Lily and Keegan deep in conversation Erin busied herself with her breakfast, trying to wake up with the help of strong coffee. She and Amélie had been up late the previous night, ostensibly searching records, but mostly they had just talked. Not about their parents which still sought to divide the overly optimistic Erin and the cynical Greengrass, but about everything else.

About their plans for after Hogwarts (Amélie who wanted to study theoretical rune physics and five-dimensional architecture, and Erin who really didn't have a clue), about their love lives (Amélie, who almost no experience at all, and Erin, who had dated a boy from their year, and a girl from the year above and couldn't decide which she preferred), about their favourite literature (Amélie - A Revised Hogwarts: A History, collector's edition and Erin – The Dragon Rider, a little juvenile perhaps, but a classic).

It seemed so easy. Perhaps it was because they only met at night, when things took on a greater meaning, but Erin looked forward to their meetings more than she would care to admit.

Still, when she looked up from her plate and saw Amélie hesitantly walking towards her, she was a little shocked. Beyond a casual nod in the corridors when they passed, they saved most of their communications for the library and the night, when it could just be the two of them. Sensing her discomfort, Erin hastily waved to Amélie and beckoned her over to the empty seat next to her, which she gratefully sank into, ducking her head from the inquisitive glances of the other Gryffindors.

'I found her.' Amélie said.

'You- What?'

'Last night, after you went to bed. I stayed behind a bit longer and I found her, your mother. She lives in Cambridgeshire.' Amélie pulled a scrap of parchment with an address on it from her pocket and laid it on the table by Erin's plate.

Erin opened her mouth, then closed it again. She opened it once more, but no sound emerged.

'Did you-' Amélie hesitated. 'Did you want to go and see her?'

'I don't know.' Erin confessed. 'All this time, it's all I could think about, and now I'm scared.'

'Don't listen to my cynicisms.' Amélie was suddenly all business. 'You are constantly telling me to be more optimistic about things. This is fear talking, and I though you lions didn't know the meaning of fear!'

'Don't be daft, everyone feels afraid.' Erin answered. 'Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the ability to set it aside, and continue anyway.'

'Well there you go then.' Amélie smiled. 'When are we going?'

'We? You mean you'll come with me?'

'Of course dummy', Amélie laughed. 'I'm probably as invested in this project as you are. Anyway you need me.'

'You have no idea how true that is.' Erin said softly, and felt heat on her cheeks. 'But how are we going to get there, we're both underage.'

'That's why you have me!' Amélie laughed. 'I'm one of a kind. And I happen to have a sister who has her apparition licence. If you want to go today, well, I cashed in a favour and she says she'll take us by side-along apparition.'

'Really?' Erin gasped. 'She'd do that for me?'

'She's pretty decent, for a Slytherin.' Amélie returned. 'But it does have to be today, unless you want to wait until next term.'

'No, we can go today. Hogsmeade doesn't have apparition wards around it. Where did you want to meet your sister?'

'Cecelia said she'd meet us outside The Hogs Head, less noticeable that way.'

Amélie made to stand, but Erin reached out and caught her arm.

'Thank you so much', she beamed. 'You can't imagine what this means to me.'

'It's cool.' Amélie hesitated. 'Just remember, that things might not go the way you want them to-'

'Oh tush, don't spoil the moment!'

…

Rose and Scorpius finished their breakfast, oblivious to the plans hatching around them. Instead they simply took pleasure in each other's company. When the last of the food faded from the golden plates, and the tables had emptied as students began to head back to their dormitories to get ready for the visit to Hogsmeade, Scorpius finally broke their companionable silence.

'What are you plans for today?'

'I thought we could go to Hogsmeade, just the two of us.' She answered. 'We haven't hung out properly in ages. It'll be just like old times', she added, and he looked sharply at her.

'Is that what you want?' He asked softly, and somehow Rose was nodding.

'Yes, that's what I want.'

…

 **Outside the Shrieking Shack**

 **09oo hours**

…

The Shrieking Shack stood ominously dark against the swirling grey skyline, and the two girls leaning against the rickety fence that enclosed the building gazed at it, half horrified, half fascinated. The snow that had settled along the ridge pole had made it bow, or maybe that was just the progression of time, or maybe the violence of the trapped spirits in side it. Whatever the reason, the shack stood silent now, its windows dull and staring.

'Hi, Cecelia! Over here.' Erin jumped, turning away from the shack and tugging nervously on her hat as Amélie's older sister trudged through the snow towards them.

Cecelia Greengrass was shorter than her sister, with golden hair and very dark eyes and lashes that stood out starkly on her pale, pert face. She had neither the glasses, or the embarrassed stoop of her younger sister, nor did she suffer from any lack of confidence when talking to complete strangers.

'This is a terrible idea.' She said, without greeting or preamble. 'Don't poke this hornet's nest, you never know what will fly out and sting you.'

'It's nice to meet you too', Erin quipped, but Cecelia didn't smile. 'There must be something very special about you to make my sister forget all her her realistic expectations of the world.' She said.

'Shut up Cecelia', Amélie said. 'We don't have all day.'

The two sisters exchanged stony glances, then Cecelia held out both her hands.

'Hold on tight', she said, and they did.

There was a crack, and the most uncomfortable sensation Erin had every felt, as though she was being squeezed through a very narrow tube. Her lungs jumped, seeking air that was crushed from them, and everything was spinning, the Greengrass sister's hands, the only thing she was certain of at all. So she gripped them tighter, and held on.

Early morning sunlight was painting the sandy Cambridgeshire stone a pale gold when they landed, gasping in the middle of a small cobbled square. The row of houses were quaint, with sash windows and gardens of neat rows of flowers and shrubs. Many of the curtains in the windows were still closed, their occupants enjoying the Saturday morning lie-in. There was no snow here, but lights adorned many of the houses, from plastic reindeer to more refined teardrops of golden light.

There was a small war memorial in the centre of the square, with a bench to one side. Cecelia pulled away from the two younger girls, and sat down upon this bench, but Erin held on to Amélie's hand, sudden nervous.

'Which one is it?' She whispered, but her voice carried on the still air.

'Number sixteen', Erin replied. 'I think it's in the next street.'

Cecelia was watching her little sister through narrowed eyes. 'We can still go back', she said. 'It's not too late to forget this and go back to Hogsmeade.'

'A little support would be nice, Sis', Amélie said, forcing her tone to be light.

'Support should not be ignorance.' Her sister replied. 'Amélie, you know how this ends.'

'Erin and I are not the same person', Amélie said forcefully. 'Our cases are not the same.'

'Haven't you become the optimist', Cecelia said, closing her eyes. 'I'll be here when you need me.'

Amélie squeezed Erin's hand. 'I think it's this way.'

They found Number Sixteen halfway down the next street, neatly fenced in by trimmed laurel hedges. A blue front door. Neat curtains. A gnome too ugly to be muggle in the front garden.

'Are you ready for this?' Amélie whispered, and Erin nodded.

'I've never been so ready.'

The gate creaked slightly as she opened it, and frost crunched beneath her feet as she made her way up the neatly weeded garden path to the front door. She hesitated for only the fraction of a second at the blue front door, then reached up and banged the brass knocker twice.

Stepping back, she arranged her face into what she hoped was an appropriately friendly smile, and waited. A moment, and the sound of footsteps, and the door swung open to reveal a woman in a dressing gown, her dark hair messily piled on top of her head. She looked at Erin questioningly.

'Can I help you?'

Erin was almost all her father – his dark skin, his tawny hair, his warm brown eyes. But she could see parts of this woman in her own features too. The slightly Roman nose, the full lips, her narrow shoulders and hips. It was like she was looking at herself but with deliberate mistakes.

'Mum?' She managed, and the woman stepped back, a hand flying to her throat.

 _It's okay,_ Erin thought to herself, trying to quell her panic. _So she doesn't recognise me, that was to be expected._

'Erin? That can't be you, you're supposed to be in Scotland.'

'Can we come in?'

'I- no- I mean, yes of course. Come in.'

She held the door a little wider, and Erin and Amélie slipped through.

'My husband's just left for work', she said. 'Would you like a cup of tea?'

'That would be lovely.' Amélie said, when it was clear that Erin wasn't up to forming words. 'Is the kitchen this way?'

'Er- Yes, I mean, follow me.'

The kitchen was spotless, all in white with muggle appliances lining the walls. A large range stood against the wall at one end, a table and chairs at the other.

'Please, take a seat.'

Amélie watched as the woman bustled about, making the tea. Then sat on the edge of her seat as they drank the scalding liquid.

'So Erin', she said her daughter's name as though it felt uncomfortable on her tongue. 'What are you doing here?'

'I wanted to meet you!' Erin replied excitedly, leaning forwards and spilling tea onto the pristine white table cloth. The woman's eyes followed the stain.

Amélie wondered why Erin couldn't see the signs as the two spoke; Erin prattling away about everything and anything she could think of, her mother shifting in her seat, eyes flicking to the clock above the table. They were subtle sure, but Amélie would have known them anywhere.

She gazed around the kitchen, and then out of the window that overlooked the back garden. Rows of picture frames lined the sill, and in each stood two boys, at varying stages of their lives from toddlers, through to young men.

'Excuse me', Amélie interrupted Erin's flow of babble. She pointed to the photographs. 'Who are they?'

The woman, she had introduced herself as Mauve Shirley, followed the direction of Amélie's finger, and her face broke into the first true smile either girl had seen.

'They're my sons', she said. 'Charles and John. They're all grown up now, of course, but-'

'I have brothers?' Erin gasped.

'Half-brothers.' Mrs Shirley corrected, her words sharp. 'They're fine boys. Charles is twenty-two and John is nineteen.'

'But then', Erin said slowly. 'My dad. I mean...'

'Look', said Mrs Shirley, pulling the lapels of her dressing gown more firmly together at her throat. 'Your father was an indiscretion, a year of madness when my boys were little. My husband forgave me, took me back. But this house, this family, that's my life.'

'What do you mean?' Erin's voice quavered. 'Mum, I-'

'Don't call me that.' She said sharply, turning away. 'Look, whatever you want from me, money or-'

'You think I'm here for money?' Erin's voice was high and unsteady. 'I wanted to get to know my mother, to see who you were and what you were like! I always thought that you would have some great reason to explain why you left. I'm not some dirty little secret you can bury away!'

Amélie pulled Erin to her feet, clutching her hand tightly in her own.

'Let's go', she said, giving her a tug. 'No good can come from staying here.'

'What happened to a mother's unconditional love?' Erin asked, staring at the women still sat in that neat kitchen. 'I thought that mother's were supposed to love their children, no matter what.'

'You should never have tried to find me.' Mrs Shirley said. 'I have a life here, a good life. I won't let my biggest mistake ruin this. You need to leave. Now.'

The cold air his Erin's face as sharply as the slamming of the door behind her. The frosty temperatures tore at her exposed skin, but she was too numb to cry, too numb to do anything but let Amélie pull her away from the picture-postcard house, with its neat rows of shrubs, and its spotless kitchen that hid the dirtiest of lies.

 **...**

 **Outside The Three Broomsticks**

 **11oo hours**

…

'You actually came. For a minute there I thought you were going to stand me up.'

Albus was leaning against the red brick wall of the The Three Broomsticks when Lizzie rounded a corner, melting snow out of her path with her wand. Snowflakes had settled in his dark hair, and on the shoulders of his heavy cloak, and the smile that appeared on his face when he caught sight of her reminded her of all those times she and her brother had played with the Potters as children. It was the same grin that had graced his face when he'd first used accidental magic, when he'd swam the length of the pond in the Potter's back garden for the first time. It was the grin he wore when the pair of them wouldn't let anyone else into their tree house, when she'd dropped her ice-cream and he's given her his own.

'Funny Potter. Come on, let's get this over with.' Lizzie shifted her satchel over one shoulder and gestured towards the crowded pub.

'You wound me', Al gasped, clutching his heart. 'And I actually thought we could go somewhere a little more private.'

Lizzie closed her eyes. 'You bastard, I should have known that you weren't sincere. I thought maybe we could work on building our friendship again today and now you had to ruin it by-'

'Whoa there Lizbet', Albus raised his hands. 'Yes, I got you here on false pretences, but they come with the best of intentions, you have to believe me.'

'And why should I believe you?' Lizzie asked, trying to squash the small smile that had threatened to bubble up when he had used her childhood nickname.

'Because you may not believe it, but I care about you more than my own happiness, and that means making you happy is the best thing I can ever strive for.' Albus took a step towards her, and took her hand, his woollen gloves rough against her cold hands. 'And I know you don't like me all that much at the moment, but I also know that you trust me, which is why I'm asking you to come with me now.'

She did trust him, just as she had trusted that little boy with his infectious grin and dancing green eyes. So she let him tug her around the corner where another boy was standing.

As he had done all through the years she had known him, James Potter made her breath catch in her throat. He was wearing that worn leather jacket, and ripped jeans, the red scarf she'd knitted him for his birthday knotted around his neck and a dark grey beanie atop his inky curls. His skin was still tan, despite the winter season, and those spattering of freckles still stood out faintly across his nose, beneath deep brown eyes. His mouth was crooked up at one side, and he was staring at her like he had that first time when he's seized her hand and dragged her into one mad-cap adventure after another.

And he was staring at her as though he was tracing her features against the photographs in his memory.

'I'll, er, be going then.'

Albus tried his best not to look back as he walked away from James and Lizzie, but just before he turned the corner of the snow-covered alleyway he caved and glanced over his shoulder. They were still gazing at each other, unable to look away, and Albus knew that she had completely forgotten his existence.

So, his good deed done for the day, he went into the pub and got drunk.

…

 **The Three Broomsticks**

 **111o hours**

 **...**

'Shit, that's Al!' Lily hastily seized her tankard of butterbeer and Keegan's hand, and pulled him away from the crowded bar and towards the back of the pub. She managed to find a small table, hidden behind an enormous Christmas tree decorated with fluttering fairies trapped inside coloured glass jam jars, and they sat down, peering towards the bar.

'I thought he was spending the day with Lizzie', Keegan whispered as they watched Albus order a double shot of firewhiskey, despite the earliness of the hour.

'Apparently not', she whispered back, watching her brother order another from the pretty barmaid behind the counter. 'Do you think I should go and talk to him?'

'Cruel as it sounds, I don't think you're the kind of company Al wants right now.'

Lily watched as her brother lent forward, tapping the pretty barmaid on the back of the hand. 'And I don't think you quite fit the requirements either.' She replied.

'In that case.' Keegan said, pulling his wand out his pocket and levitating the tree a little to the right so it hid them completely from the bar.

Lily hid her worry and instead lent forward, taking one of his hands in both of her own. She raised it to her lips, then held it against her cheek.

'In that case.' She agreed, and lent forward to kiss him.

…

 **Outside The Three Broomsticks**

 **12oo hours**

…

'It's getting cold sitting here', James said. 'Did you want to go inside?'

Lizzie shook her head. 'No, not yet. Out here I can almost pretend nothing has changed.'

There was a polite distance between the two of them on the bench, now cleared of snow, and their words were even politer as they discussed all those _safe_ topics like school and work and friends. She wanted to ask him why he could never change for her, why he had never cared for her like she had cared for him. She wondered if he thought of these questions too, and then despised herself for hoping that he did.

'I had no idea you were going to be here when Al wrote to me.' James said suddenly.

'Were you pleased, or appalled?'

'I was a drowning man staring at air.'

'You always were charming.' She laughed. 'A pity that you could not be sincere as well.'

'I never lied to you about what I am.' He said quickly, and she laid a calming hand on his arm.

'I know you didn't.' She said. 'But I sometimes wish that you had. Then I might have carried on hoping that you loved me enough to grow up.'

'I did love you. I still do in some ways.' He answered slowly. 'You were a good deal too good for me. You should have been with someone like Albus, someone driven and intelligent.'

'And yet I fell in love with you.'

'And yet you fell in love with me.' He echoed.

Another silence, but this time it was less hollow.

'You were the only girl I ever even thought of changing for.' He added to the silence.

'That's a lie', she smiled. 'But thanks all the same.'

'I mean it', he smiled that mischievous smile at her. 'You were worth the bloody nose Tony gave me.'

'James, can I kiss you once last time?' She asked. 'Not because it means anything now, but because it once meant everything.'

The distance between them was no longer polite.

They were kisses that weren't meant to lead anywhere, but did. Kisses that made her heart pound and her head spin, and her knees feel weak as he clutched her to him, curving her backwards as his mouth devoured hers.

They were kisses that shouldn't mean anything, but did. Much as she'd hoped that this kiss would prove her indifference to James, she soon realised that the opposite was true. There was that half smile against her lips, and she thought of Albus suddenly. Perhaps she'd hoped that this kiss would prove that he, and not the boy pressed so close against her now, was the right choice. That the logical and reasoned argument would win out.

When it comes to love, nothing is simple.

…

 **Outside the Shrieking Shack**

 **153o hours**

…

Erin tried to open her eyes, but her tears had frozen them shut. Through her inconsolable grief, reason struck her, and she realised she should be cold and wet, but wasn't. Warm air coated her face, and the ice in her eyes melted.

Amélie watched Erin tentatively, scared to do more than ease her sorrow as best she could. Blue flames crackled by their folded knees, the only noise, but for the inhuman sobs and gasping, rasping breaths, in the stagnant gloom.

When no more tears came, Erin looked up, first at the shack which now seemed only rejected and as lonely as she, then the snow streaked brown with mud. Then at Amélie.

'You were right about everything.' She murmured. 'I should have listened to you.' A pause. 'People stay lost for a reason.'

'It is no consolation to me', Amélie said slowly, reaching an arm around Erin's shoulders. 'That I should be proved right. I wish I could have spared you this.'

Erin lent into Amélie's shoulder. 'I'm sorry I called you a cynic. You were a realist.'

Amélie reached out and took Erin's hand, tracing an indistinct pattern over her palm. 'You make me feel less cynical.' She said.

Their kiss, when it came, was slow and sweet, and as much a search for comfort as an admission of attraction. But in the cold, and the confusion of rejection and disappointed hopes, it was exactly what both of them needed.

…

 **The Three Broomsticks**

 **16oo hours**

…

'Fancy a drinking partner Potter?'

Albus looked blearily up to see a blonde girl leaning against the bar next to him, staring at him blankly. He nodded slowly and she sat down on the stool next to him, fiddling with the coaster until the barmaid set down her drink.

'Pity loves a party', the girl observed. 'And I have a lot of drinking to do if I'm to catch up with you.'

Albus hiccuped, and took another sip of his drink. He blinked a few times and turned to look at the girl properly as she downed her drink.

'Greengrass isn't it?'

'That's right Potty. Cecelia.' She held out her hand and he shook it clumsily. 'So why are you drinking alone in this fine establishment?'

'I just set my brother up with the girl I'm in love with.' He blurted, and then wondered why he was talking to this girl who, to the best of his knowledge, he had never even looked at in six and a half years of school.

'That wasn't very clever.' She commented, idly sticking her finger into her drink and licking the amber droplet. Albus watched the darting motion of her tongue, and wished suddenly that his head wasn't so clouded with alcohol.

'So why are you drinking with me?'

'I did something I should never have done today.' She said sadly, staring at the rows of gleaming bottles behind the bar. 'And I think I may have done irreparable damage in the process.'

'What happened?'

Greengrass laughed. 'I'm about four drinks too early to answer that question.'

'Then let me remedy that!' He waved down the barmaid, who rolled her eyes but accepted his gold, lining up the glasses and filling them with a liquid that steamed as it hit the bottom of the glass.

'To crappy days!' He saluted her with his glass, and then tipped it down his throat. She followed suit.

Cecelia, he stopped calling her Greengrass somewhere around their fifth drink, was hysterically funny in that way only drunkenness can inspire.

'So what did you do that was so bad?' Albus inquired, absent-mindedly hooking a leg around hers and swinging it back and forth. She peered at him, and cocked her head thoughtfully to the side.

'It's so fucking funny', she laughed, but there was a shrill edge to her tone, and the laugh was not in her eyes. 'You'd think I'd know better by now. I'm supposed to be the grown up one. So funny.'

She laughed that shrill hysterical note again.

'My sister's friend wanted to find her mother, and I said I'd help because I didn't help when Amélie wanted my help. And guess what? I was proved right, _again!'_ She hiccuped, and though Albus didn't really understand her words, he lent forwards, clumsily hugging her.

'I should never have let her go. I knew better.' She sniffed, and a tear ran down her cheek.

'Do you want to get out of here?' He asked, and she nodded, wiping her eyes.

'Fuck yes.'

…

 **Hogsmeade Village**

 **17oo hours**

…

Rose and Scorpius, staggering under the weight of the many parcels they carried, laughed and joked as they slipped and slid through the snow and slush, trampled down to ice by the pounding of many feet. At the post office, they unveiled themselves of many of their new purchases, sending cards and gifts to their family members. Their burden lightened, and their money bags seriously emptied, they set off down the high street arm in arm.

At the carolers outside the pub, they sang a few verses, at The Three Broomsticks they drank mulled wine. At Honeydukes they bought each other the foulest tasting confectionery they could find and chortled when the other ate it with grimaces and much resistance.

'Do you think the team are grateful that I gave them the day off?' Rose questioned her friend as they began the walk back to the castle. He slipped a little on some ice, and she righted him without thought.

'I would imagine so.' He laughed. 'I hardly think anyone would prefer suicide runs in the snow to this!' He gestured behind them, to where the snow-covered roofs of the houses of Hogsmeade were receding into the whiteness like the houses of a picture-postcard.

They stood for a moment, sheltered from the wind beneath a broad oak tree, and gazed down at the village beneath them. Rose neatly tucked herself into the crook of his shoulder, and he obligingly wrapped his arms around her lean frame. She thought he might have pressed a kiss to her hair, but he made no further movement, and so neither did she.

…

* * *

A/N.

Goodness, what an exhausting chapter to write! Lots of ups and downs, and I hope the happy moments helped to balance out the sad.

What were your thoughts on the romances in this chapter? The dynamics of family? Has Rose shown development?

Let me know.

Review!

Love and hugs

A.A.A.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

 **...**

 **20th December**

 **Hogsmeade Station**

 **1045 hours**

 **...**

'You said that you didn't even like him-'

'So did you!'

'That's not the point, you're my best friend! You're expected to know when I'm lying!'

'That's absolute bull! You're my ex-best friend now-'

'Good!'

'Good!'

'Fine!'

'Fine!'

Lucy stifled a groan as Violet and Mary stomped away from each other, faces matching expressions of disgust and self-indignation, leaving their other friend alone with all three trunks and a very indignant owl. The train ride home was not going to be pleasant, and Lucy didn't need any tealeaves to predict that she would spend most of it going from one girl to the other, carrying more messages than an owl, and generally trying to get them to talk to each other again. It was her role in every one of their many fights.

But Lucy was naturally sunny by nature and didn't really mind, though her patience did wear thin after the third or fourth fight a weak. Still, it was with a certain degree of resignation that she began to heave all three trunks aboard, wondering if her friends were going to fight all the way home.

Molly was much more serious than her older sister, which was probably why they got on so well as neither personality overlapped. Ruthie was much more exuberant, as most small eleven year olds are, even the ones is the house of the wise and users of excessively long words. Even so, when Lucy caught sight of her sister and Ruthie heading her way, dragging their trunks behind them, she breathed a sigh of relief.

'Are Violet and Mary fighting again?' Ruthie asked, setting down her trunk, then hopping up onto it, swinging her legs merrily. She was wearing very long socks, with bright blue and green stripes, and they matched the hat sat jauntily atop her pigtails, on which a dusting of snow lay.

'Yeah', Lucy sighed, gesturing to the trunks that surrounded her. 'Peter Summerby said Happy Christmas to Mary and not Violet.'

'Oh dear.'

'Precisely. It's fine, they'll be over it after some time apart.'

'I thought Peter Summerby was dating Letty from your dorm?' Molly said as she pulled off her gloves carefully, one finger at a time.

Lucy stared at her. 'What? She kept that pretty quiet!'

'Probably because she knew that Mary and Violet would react exactly like this.' Molly said, and gestured to where Violet and Mary had each found another of their friends and were, no doubt, blackening the each other's name.

'Alas, that's probably true.' Ruthie agreed.

'And we end up the poor schmucks that have to get their trunks onto the train', Lucy groused.

Ruthie giggled. 'Less of the "we" please! Molly and I are but innocent bystanders.'

'Pish', said Lucy.

They had just heaved Ruthie and Molly's trunks into a compartment where the two belonging to Violet and Mary stood, and were about to start on Lucy's when there was an embarrassed cough from behind them.

Tommy Tillian was stood behind them, his feet compressing the snow to ice as he jiggled uneasily about. He swung his arms in front of him, then behind him, then buried them in the pockets of his cloak.

Neither Lucy or Molly spoke, looking warily at the bigger boy, but Ruthie stepped forwards, crossing her arms.

'What do you want, Tillian?'

'I, er, I- Look, I just wanted to apologise to you guys. After the incident with Rose, I started thinking, and I know I've been terrible to you. And I'm not going to give excuses, because there aren't any, but I'm trying to make amends. There's no reason you should forgive me, but please maybe think about it while you're home for the holidays.' He said quickly, the words jumbling slightly as they left his mouth.

Lucy felt her mouth fall open in shock, but before she could formulate any sort of reply, the whistle blew behind them and the chimney of the Hogwarts' Express let out a scream of steam which crystallized in the frosty air.

'You'll miss the train if you don't get on now', was all she could think to say, but Tillian shook his head.

'I'm not going home', he said. 'I just wanted to say something before you all left. I'm going to walk back to school afterwards.'

The whistle rang out again, and Molly and Ruthie each grabbed one of Lucy's hands, heaving her backwards onto the train. There was a scream of wheels, and the express began to move. Tillian jogged alongside.

'Please, just think about it', he puffed.

The Hogwarts' Express gathered speed and the platform ran out, leaving him standing in the snow which was more like sleet now. He gazed after the train long after Ruthie and Molly had left to find their compartment. Lucy, however, looked back one more time to see him dejectedly turning towards the castle, pulling his damp robes tightly around him.

 **...**

 **The Seventh Floor**

 **12oo hours**

 **...**

Rose was a lot of things, but she wasn't cruel. So when the gentle snowflakes turned to sleet she released her team and told them to hit the showers. There were appreciative mumbles as they stumped through the slush and snow to their changing rooms, dripping water all over the changing room floor. It had been more of a fun practise than anything, especially as two of their members were currently on the Hogwarts Express heading for King's Cross. She'd run drills for half an hour, then started a game of dodge ball, which was always fun, especially as they played with four bludgers.

All the team bar Rose splintered off in the Entrance Hall, heading for the Great Hall and lunch, but Rose began to climb the many flights of stairs to the seventh floor, heading for the tapestry of Barnabus the Barmy.

She was deep in thought, attempting to predict whether the Hufflepuff team would have perfected the Hawks Head attacking formation in time for their next match, when the last person she ever would have expected to see hurried round a corner and stopped in front of her.

Tommy Tillian was not wearing his usual self-appreciatory grin. In fact, he looked embarrassed and more than a little uncomfortable, and highly aware that he was alone with the most terrifying girl in the school. But as he was blocking Rose's path, she had no option but to stop which she did, folding her arms and raising her eyebrows.

There was a silence, and it seemed as though Tillian expected Rose to make the first move. But as Rose felt that she had been more than generous by stopping at all, this appeared to be non-forthcoming.

'Hi, um, Weasley.'

'Tillian.'

'I wanted to ask you something.'

'What makes you think you can talk to me?'

Tillian flushed, and looked highly uncomfortable which Rose rather enjoyed. She felt somewhat that it served him right.

'Look, I know you hate me.' He said abruptly.

'I don't hate you.' Rose said coolly.

'You don't?'

'I might despise your behaviour, loathe your inability to be polite, well-mannered, or even civil to anybody that you aren't afraid of. I might think you scum for the way you treat people who are smaller or more timid than yourself, but no, I don't hate you.'

Tillian let out a breath.

'I guess I deserve that.'

Rose shrugged. 'It's only the truth. Last time we met, I was seeing red because you were being foul to my baby cousin. Now, I pity you, because no-one can become like you without a great deal of outside help.'

Tillian looked at his feet, then back at Rose, meeting her eyes. Rose surveyed him, slightly impressed. She liked people who weren't afraid of her, and though Tillian obviously was, he was hiding it well.

'My parents don't like me.' He said sanguinely, as though stating the more blaringly obviously. 'They write to Professor Turpin every year asking if I can stay at Hogwarts for the summer holidays as well.' Another shrug. 'Mostly they just ignore me.'

Rose's brow creased. Silence fell for a moment. Then, in a softer voice, Rose asked: 'Was there something you wanted from me?'

'I was hoping you might be willing to help me.' He said, then before she could reply, he hastily carried on. 'I'm fat. I know everyone whispers about me behind my back, I know everyone laughs at me. And then I watched you defend Lucy, even to the point that you got dragged into Professor Marchling's office. No-one would ever defend me like that. No-one cares about me at all.'

Rose gazed intently at the boy before her, her brow ferruled. Part of her was still seething at his treatment of her cousin, of the first years who he had victimised for years. She was unwilling to forgive him so readily. But her heart was not built of stone.

'What do you want of me?' She asked.

'Can you help me to become healthier?' He asked. 'Lose some weight? There's no-one in Hogwarts who knows as much about fitness and training as you do.'

'I'm not a personal trainer, I'm an athlete', Rose hedged.

'Please.'

'Look.' She said, narrowing her eyes. 'I don't like you. You're a bully, you victimise the weak to feel strong. And if I were to do this, there would be conditions. I have rules, and the second you complain, the second you moan that I push you too hard, the second I ever hear the whisper that you're thinking about returning to your old way, you're out. I will demand the same dedication from you as I do my team.'

'I understand-' Tillian started, but Rose cut across him.

'Do you? I run lapse every single day at five am, no matter if it's raining, sleeting or gale force winds. I will expect you to join me, gaining distance as you gain fitness. I will expect you to meet me every single morning to train, follow my orders no matter what you feel. You will apologise to every single person you have ever bullied. You will beg for their forgiveness. And the moment I hear that you have said something unkind to _anyone_ I will be gone. Do you understand?'

Tillian nodded frantically. 'I completely understand. You have no idea how grateful I am that you-'

'I have no idea if your motives are of remorse or not', Rose cut over him. 'Nor do I really care. That is between you and your conscience. But if you are serious about this, then I will help you.'

'You will?' Tillian sounded more surprised than happy, though that was not all together surprising. He stepped aside so she could continue past, and she frowned at him.

'Where do you think you're going?'

'I, er- what?'

'If you're serious about this', she replied, beginning to stride along again, 'then we start now. Come with me.'

...

Tommy watched Rose launch a flurry of powerful blows into the heavy leather sack hanging from the roof of the rectangular room with something approaching awe. Firstly as a boy, for Rose had stripped down to nothing but a form fitting pair of shorts and a sports bra and sweat coated her skin, glistening in the bright light. Then as a jealous onlooker, watching the way her muscles bunched and flexed, the speed at which her feet danced and her arms jabbed forwards in short, decided blows. Then with concern, for she wore no heavy gloves, but had simply wound thick lengths of cloth around her palms and knuckles, and even from a distance he could see the blood beginning to soak through.

He had never seen this room before and he, friendless and with entirely too much spare time, had explored every inch of the castle. It was large and airy, with high windows lining two walls, through which bright light streaked. No matter that the room could not possibly be situated near the outside of the castle, nor the fact that, to the best of his knowledge, the weather outside was far less pleasant. The room was probably cool, but Tommy felt as though his chest was about to explode, and his skin felt like fire. This was only exacerbated by the embarrassment he had felt when Rose had made him remove his baggy robes for an outfit more suitable which had appeared in his size from the pegs on the far side of the room.

'There is no judgement', Rose had said briskly, as she herself had stripped down to her training gear. 'I dislike you for your behaviour, not your weight. Forget about that, forget everything apart from your determination. Do not seek a finish line miles in the future, focus on the now. Becoming healthy is far more than losing weight, it is a way of life, it is being happy in your own body. Do you see the difference?'

Strangely enough, Tommy had thought she had meant it, though it was hard not to feel shamed when he looked down at his own body in comparison to the hard, lean muscle of the older girl. Strangely enough though, Rose had been right. When he put his own insecurities aside, there was only himself and what he was trying to do. It helped that Rose was more machine than attractive woman in this situation, it helped him to forget that he was not alone.

She had worked with him for an hour, completing an extensive warm up before even attempting anything more vigorous. She had explained how he would only quit if they went hell-for-leather in the beginning, and so he had walked one set of lines, then slowly jogged the next, before reverting back to walking pace. She had anchored his feet with one hand, and placed the other in the small of his back, supporting him as he struggled to complete a sit-up. And though she stood not the smallest complaint, she was not cruel.

Rose was surprised how much she enjoyed the training session. It had not been Tillian the Bully in the Room of Requirement with her, but just a young man who wanted to turn his life around. That made it easier. Still, after an hour, it was definitely time for him to call it a day. They cooled down, and he drank about a gallon of water, much to Rose's amusement.

When he was cognoscente again, they sat down. 'Diet', she said, and proceeded to expand upon one of her favourite subjects. 'Your body will constantly tell you it's hungry at first, but that's normal. It's actually the craving for sugar that sends those signals. If you eat a balance diet of protein, carbohydrate and fat, you will get everything your body needs. Try to keep busy, that's the best way of avoiding snacking. I want you to eat eight pieces of fruit or vegetables a day. Keep your sugar intake to a minimum. Drink at least two litres of water every day.'

Tillian wished he had thought to bring parchment and quill.

'Okay, we're done for today', Rose said finally. 'Go get some lunch.'

He nodded. 'Are you coming?'

'No, I want to have a half-an-hour intensive, then I'll hit up the kitchens afterwards.'

He watched her wind the strips of fabric around her hands, then with shock at the way she danced around the heavy leather bag, darting in and out.

'What are you still doing here?' She yelled through gritted teeth as her breathing grew heavy.

'Watching a master at work.' He said, before standing back up and beginning to jog lines again.

 **...**

 **The Gryffindor Common Room**

 **14oo hours**

 **...**

Rose found Scorpius in the Gryffindor Common room after her visit to the kitchens, already scribbling away at one of the many essays they had been set for over the two week break. However, he was not completely devoid of holiday feeling, for the second her noticed her he, stuffed it, along with quill, ink and textbooks, back into his bag.

Somewhere that morning the sleet had become snow again, and a thick layer now covered the grounds visible through the windows of the common room. Even the clouds had cleared, and bright sunlight was echoing through the trees of the Forbidden Forrest and cast furrows and dells of bright sparkling light and deep shadow across the grounds. It was almost perfect training conditions.

Scorpius made room for her in the chair beside himself and she dropped into it, each adjusting themselves to fit, jigsaw like, around the other; the placing of an arm here, the tilting of a hip there. Albus, with Keegan and Lily were sat opposite, Lily balancing neatly on the arm of her brother's squashy armchair. Alex was crouching before the fire, a long toasting fork in hand.

Seeing the back of Alex's dark hair, crouching before the fire, toasting teacakes, Rose suddenly lent forwards, then changed her mind and sat back, leaning into Scorpius's shoulder. Tillian might have been reasonably pleasant that morning, but she wasn't going to do him any favours until he'd proved he'd changed. Still, she couldn't help feeling back for him as she pictured him wandering the empty corridors. Perhaps she was going soft in her old age, but she couldn't shake the feeling that she- well- that she ought to do something, even if it was only for the good of the many little first years that were traumatised by him.

'Al', she said suddenly, interrupting a lively conversation between Keegan and Lily, 'What do you know about Tommy Tillian?'

'Why the sudden interest?' He asked, setting down his wand on the arm of the chair. A few red sparks shot out and nearly set Lily's hair on fire. She yelped, and toppled off the arm of the chair.

'I'm going to sit by Keegan', she announced. 'At least he doesn't try to grill me!'

Rose didn't notice the small smile that passed between Keegan and Lily as she climbed up on the arm of his chair, nor did she see the way he gently trailed his hand down her leg and her blush, though Scorpius did. However, like many great thinkers, he said nothing.

'No sudden interest', Rose said hastily, idly rubbing some dirt off her hands. She'd washed the crusted blood from her knuckles before lunch, but now she examined the neat row of calluses that her many training sessions with the leather boxing bag had acquired. 'More curiosity than anything. After I got that detention for threatening him, I guess I'm just interested in his background. People don't become bullies without some sort of help.'

Al opened his mouth to protest that he knew nothing, but Rose laughed and cut him off.

'And don't you give me that "I'm-so-innocent-I-know-nothing-cross-my-heart-and-hope-to-die" look, because I know you have files on all the "troubled" students in your desk in that fancy-schmancy Head's office that you and Lizzie share because I've broken in more than once.'

'You managed to get into my office?' Albus said, aghast. 'No-one but teachers are supposed to be able to enter the Head's common room!'

'I'm a clever cookie', she laughed, and felt Scorpius snort with derision next to her.

'To answer your question', Al said, returning to twiddling his wand between his fingers, 'I'm not allowed to tell you private stuff about students. And I'm going to be upping the wards around the entrance.'

'You can try', she teased. 'If I can break into Coach Hendrix's private office, then your spells are nothing.'

'Thanks for the quote of confidence', he said dryly, and accepted the teacake that Alex offered him.

...

'So what are we going to do for the rest of the day?' Lily asked the group at large a few minutes later.

Rose checked the window. 'I reckon we've probably got about another two hours of daylight so we could-'

'No!' Scorpius groused, sliding further down his chair and dramatically throwing an arm over his face. 'No more quidditch today, it's the first day of the holidays!'

Amidst the general laughter, Rose smiled ruefully. 'I guess I am a stuck record most of the time. But I was actually going to suggest going skating on the lake while it's frozen solid. I bet Hagrid will be around, so we could go and see him afterwards for tea, then I need to go and see Hugo. How does that sound?'

The plan seemed to suit everyone, so there was a general exodus towards their respective dormitories to extract cloaks, scarves, hats and gloves from trunks. It was a relatively simply growing charm, manipulated by a sharpening enchantment to form thick metal skates on the bottom of their shoes.

They were not the only ones taking advantage of the last of the afternoon sunlight. They passed pockets of students, from tiny second years, to the Ravenclaw quidditch team, having snowball fights, making snow angels. It was as though the start of the holidays was the switch that turned the most serious of student into hysterically laughing children again.

There was a figure already on the ice, cutting neat spirals. Al caught sight of curling blonde hair beneath her woollen hat, and thought of Lizzie, then oddly enough Cecelia, though he knew both had gone home for the holidays. Since the Hogsmeade weekend, when he'd woken up in a pile of sweaty limbs and damp hair with her in the Room of Requirement, he had made an effort to try to talk to her, but she usually walked past him without so much as a hello.

Mostly he felt guilty. Guilty for sleeping with a girl he wasn't in love with. Guilty for not asking her out after it had happened. Guilty for using her to mend his own broken heart, despite the assurances that she was using him too. But while he knew from his correspondence with his brother that Lizzie and he had not got back together, something that had filled him with a mixture of hope and despair, Lizzie seemed to have forgiven him. She had even given him a hug before getting in the horseless carriages which were bound for Hogsmeade station.

Their breath came in great silver clouds as they raced across the ice, and though there was some natural separation within the group (Lily and Keegan, Rose and Scorpius) they stayed together. Rose seized Scorpius's hands and dragged him round in a circle, shrieking with laughter as he skidded and slipped, keeping upright only by seizing her about the shoulders.

There was a group of girls clad in black and yellow a little further down the ice. One was using her wand to make great arcs of ice shoot up from the frozen lake, so it looked as though great silver trees protruded from the lake itself. One figure suddenly detached itself from the group, and skated towards the group of Gryffindors mucking about.

Scorpius was surprised, but not unpleasantly so when Rose's fingers wound into his own. But at her warning squeeze, he turned his head just as Isabelle reached them.

'Hello', she called tentatively, and Scorpius felt Rose look at him, seeking her cues from his expression.

Had this meeting happened even a month ago, he would have felt so embarrassed that he might have melted on the spot. Now, however, he was able to exchange a pleasant smile and a word of greeting with his ex-girlfriend without so much as a pang of pain. Now it seemed so easy to ask her and her friends to join them, to watch as she nodded, to barely even gaze after her as she skated away. When she and her friends joined them a few moments later, it suddenly occurred to Scorpius that he and Rose were still holding hands.

They were still holding hands later on, when he gave up the fight against gravity and fell over, dragging her down with him. She squirmed and wriggled on the cold ice, laughter bubbling up in her throat, and he could see every freckle on her nose. He could have counted them, each small dot, as though they had been put there by a careless artist. He could have counted her eyelashes, he could have traced the lines of her not-beautiful face. He could have let his hand trace up her arms to cup her face as his kissed, and it would have been the most natural thing in the world.

And then, all at once, Scorpius came to his senses.

Al and Keegan came skating over, hooting with laughter and hauled them to their feet, and Rose lead Albus a merry dance around the ice. But Keegan stood with Scorpius for a moment as he gazed after Rose's retreating figure, as she caught both her cousins' hands, collecting Alex on the way, pulling them in a long chain.

Keegan and Scorpius did not look at each other, both gazing too intently as the girls broke away from the chain and began to race across the lake.

'I get it too', Keegan said suddenly, but when Scorpius turned to look at his friend, Keegan was already skating after the others.

 **...**

 **The Gryffindor Common Room**

 **19oo hours**

 **...**

After tea with Hagrid, squashing comfortably around his great wooden table to drink bucket-sized cups of tea while their damp robes steamed in the heat from the roaring fire, they had headed down into the basement to visit Hugo who was entirely business, and not in the mood for idle chit-chat.

'This is what you asked for', he said without preamble, pushing a piece of parchment across his desk. 'What do you want for Christmas?'

'My sneakerscope back', Rose said, unfolding the parchment and scanning the contents. 'You sold Flint a vial of Malum Felicis?'

'Paid for it upfront as well', her brother answered, rifling through the papers on his desk with a distracted air. 'And you know I deal in credit a lot as my brews are on the more expensive side.'

'Is it meant for me?' Rose asked, mentally wondering if she ought to start drinking from a hipflask.

'Almost certainly.' Hugo said. 'Everyone knows you are the competition.'

'And you sold it to him anyway?' Rose cried. 'Hugo, I'm your sister, surely that comes before business!'

'Don't be idiotic', Hugo snapped, now leafing through the files in one of his tall shelves. 'I sold him a dud. Just moan about being unlucky for a few days before your match with Hufflepuff.'

Rose let out a sigh of relief as her brother picked up his wand and muttered an incantation. Immediately, the drawers along the very top shelves that lined the walls of the office shot out and the papers in them stood up like sentries.

'And seen as you seem determined to invoke the family loyalty card', Hugo groused as the parchment spiralled down into a neat pile on his desk, 'I'll tell you something else. Tabitha Higgs collected a considerable amount of gold after Ravenclaw flattened Slytherin. If I were you, I would be questioning why a Slytherin chaser was betting on the opposition.'

Rose froze, parchment still in hand. 'You think she threw the match deliberately?'

'I would certainly be asking questions.' He replied. 'Slytherin are not the best team, but they're certainly not that bad, and I don't think Warrington was meant to catch the snitch at all. Think about it logically. With your first lose, Ravenclaw only need an extensive point lead and it doesn't matter how many time you win, you'll still be behind on points. If Ravenclaw had beaten Slytherin by one hundred and seventy points, like they would have done had Warrington not caught the snitch, then you'd be chasing a lead of over two hundred points.'

'Flint's a moron, he couldn't think of this by himself.' Rose answered slowly.

'Don't underestimate then Rose', Hugo said. 'You think no-one cares as much about quidditch as you do, that's one of your biggest flaws. But I know Robert Davies is willing to do almost anything to win this competition.'

...

'Anti-luck? Wow, Flint's really excelled himself this time', Lily scowled, when they were back in the common room discussing what Hugo had said.

'But that doesn't make any sense', Keegan argued. 'Why would Slytherin bug our changing rooms, _and_ drug Rose. It's all very excessive for a team that are attempting to throw the tournament. What's in it for them?'

'So maybe they didn't bug the changing room', Rose said slowly. 'I only suggested them because I know Mercury Bullstrode is brilliant at getting through wards, and not many students could get through the protection I've place around the changing rooms.'

'It's got to be Ravenclaw', Albus said from his position on the floor where he was idly toasting marshmallows. 'They were the ones that stood to gain the most from Slytherin's loss.'

'But it's hard to see Robert Davies being that underhand', Lily argued. 'He might be a quidditch fanatic akin to Rose-'

'Ahem!'

'Sorry, _almost_ akin to Rose, but he is a decent bloke. When he was going out with Dominique, he always seemed really nice.' Lily concluded.

'I think we can all rule out Marco Ives. The Puffs are all far too principled to win this thing on anything but pure talent.' Scorpius said.

'Definitely true', Keegan said, accepting the marshmallow Albus offered him. A moment's pause then he continued. 'We cannot point the finger without proof, so I suggest we simply watch our backs for the time being.'

'Keegan is right, we can't condemn without proof.' Alex said in his deep, slow voice. 'Let us simply focus on our own training and trust our Captain's wards to do their job.'

Rose let the conversation drop and they passed a happy evening eating toast and playing exploding snap which culminated in Lily having to re-grow Albus's eyebrows. In ones and twos, they began to trickle off to bed, until only Rose and Scorpius were left, staring into the fire from the armchair that now was undeniably _theirs._

'You need to start watching what you're drinking', he said suddenly. 'You're the biggest threat in this competition, and I wouldn't put it past Flint to put something worse than Malum Felicis in your morning pumpkin juice.'

'After the disaster of a match against Slytherin, I'm barely even in the running', Rose murmured, her eyes closed. She felt Scorpius shift beside her and opened her eyes to see him staring down at her.

'You should have more faith in yourself.' He said. Then: 'I do.'

And strangely enough, the next time Rose walked out onto the quidditch pitch, she was not thinking of the failure that had cost her the previous game. Instead, she was thinking of Scorpius's words, how he had _total_ faith in her, and mounted her broom, lighter than air.

* * *

A.N.

I find I have so many mini plots going on that I forget them! I know I have far more characters buzzing around than many fanfics do, so if there is interest I will put up a character listing chapter, just so you guys can see who everyone is, what their house is etc. Would that generate any interest?

Scorpius is finally over Isabelle!

Undercurrents of Keegan and Lily are reaching Scorpius!

Slytherin didn't bug the changing rooms! (then who did?)

Review!

Love and hugs

A.A.A.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

 **...**

 **3rd February**

 **The Hogwarts' Gates**

 **10oo hours**

 **...**

James scuffled his feet in the dirt as he waited for a member of staff to walk down from the school to let the spectators in. The snow was still thick on the ground and it had melted beneath his trampling shoes, a slow, indignant dampness seeping into the canvas. The only other visitors, a set of parents, and what was almost definitely a scout though she was dressed in plain robes, shuffled too, their warming charms causing the snow to melt a few inches above their shoulders.

James was ostensibly there to see his youngest sister fly, but in reality was hoping to see Alice again. Hence he didn't take the proffered seat in the designated area of the stands for family and friends, but craned his neck, scanning the crowd. He broke away from the seats reserved for outside spectators, ducking behind a couple of tall Ravenclaws until Professor Marchling had lost sight of him, then doubled back and diving into a crowd of black and yellow cloaks.

He found Lizzie sitting about a third of the way along a row of seats with her friends who immediately burst into smothered giggles and whispers as he approached. Behind him, the quaffle was released, and six players, three scarlet and gold, three in canary yellow, sped forward to intercept the red ball. Lizzie was politely clapping as Lily snatched the quaffle out of the fingers of Meagan O'Flaherty then looked up as his shadow fell across her face.

'Could we go and talk somewhere?' He asked, but his words were lost in the roar of noise that had emanated from the Gryffindor supports.

'What?' He saw her mouth above the boos from the Slytherin stand who were supporting Hufflepuff.

'Can we go and talk?' He mouthed back, but she simple shook her head, unable to make out his words.

James had always been a fan of the ridiculous, but this was surpassing even his ideals. The one day he had decided to man up and be a grown up, and he had to resort to screaming to the girl next to him to get her to hear how mature he now was. The irony of the situations he got himself into never ceased to amaze him.

'Can we-' he pointed to her, then to himself, 'talk?' He made a crocodile mouth with his hands and flapped his fingers up and down.

The crowd fell quiet and Lizzie replied with an affirmative, following him out of the stands. Beyond the stadium they could still hear the roars and screams from the stands, and fragments of the commentator's words, but they were muffled.

'What are you doing here James?' Lizzie asked. She didn't look annoyed, only mildly curious as she gazed at him, and James felt the tips of his ears go red.

Glad that this was hidden by his knit beanie, he asked: 'Can we walk?'

'Sure.'

They fell into step, idly kicking the snow out of their path when needed.

It soon became clear to James that Lizzie wasn't going to make the first move, so, after attempting and failing to gather his thought, he through caution to the wind and went with the age-old James motto: Wing it and hope for the best.

'I've been thinking a lot about us', he said, and she looked at him. 'About our relationship, and why we broke up, then that kiss before Christmas. So I guess what I'm trying to say', he concluded uncertainly, 'is, do you want to get back together?'

Lizzie didn't say anything for a moment for, unlike James, she didn't approve of the _wing it and hope for the best_ way of doing things. Instead she laid her thoughts out in neat lines, before opening her mouth.

'We can't get back together James.'

'Why not?' He asked, trying to mask his hurt. 'We had fun didn't we? A good time?'

'Yes', she said. 'And that's exactly why we can't get back together. James, you are one of the most wonderful people in the world, and I value your friendship. But everything was always one massive joke to you, and you never took anything seriously. You were great when we were "having fun" as you put it, but a relationship isn't just the fun bits. It's hard work, it's dedication, and it's support. And you never gave me the support I needed.'

'I-' he spluttered, 'I was supportive, I-'

'All those times you found me crying, you ran away so fast that you almost outstripped a broomstick.' She retorted. 'Did it ever occur to you that maybe I wanted to talk to you about why I was upset?'

'Well we did talk', he said, a little defensively. 'About your mum and everything. Fred said to give you space and chocolate and stuff-'

'I thought my mother was dying', Lizzie retorted. 'And you gave me a fucking chocolate frog.'

James didn't try to reply to this, nor could he meet her eyes.

'You know that I care about you', Lizzie continued, her voice more level. 'And I probably always will. But I want more from a relationship than having a laugh. I want support and trust, not just fun. And you're not ready to have that in a relationship yet.'

'Look', she said more gently, reaching out and squeezing his hand. 'I always knew that I cared about you more than you cared about me, and I was okay with that. I was fifteen, and in love in the way only teenagers can be. You were the most popular boy in school, you could make anyone laugh, and you made me feel good about myself. You were my first love, but there is a reason that people don't usually end up with their first love.'

They walked on for a moment together in silence, then she paused. 'I should head back, my friends will be wondering where I am.'

He nodded, and they turned together.

'I could be more mature, if that's what you wanted.' He said suddenly, reaching out to stop her.

'I know you could.' She smiled. 'But I also know you're not made for a quiet life. You need to be out there, saving the world, doing incredible things or you'd be bored. I wouldn't want you to change for me, you shouldn't have to. Find a girl who's willing to climb mountains with you, not expect you to stay home.'

She set of again, trudging through the snow, leaving him standing their gazing after her. At the entrance to the quidditch stadium, she spotted Albus, his messy hair glistening with snow.

'I love you, Lizzie.' James suddenly called after her, and she froze, willing herself not to run back to him, to throw her arms around his, to kiss him like she wanted to. But her reason was stronger than her heart so instead of throwing caution to the wind and _winging it_ , she simply called over her shoulder.

'I know.' She said.

Albus was waiting for her at the foot of the stadium, but as she approached she suddenly realised that she was going the wrong way still.

'I need a break from the Potter boys.' She said to aloud to herself, and turned towards the castle.

 **...**

 **The Commentator's Box**

 **11oo hours**

 **...**

'Hello and welcome to a beautiful day for quidditch here at the Hogwarts' Pitch. We have _Hufflepuff,_ playing to defend their place at top of the inter-house league tables, and _Gryffindor_ , hoping to make the comeback of the century after their harrowing defeat at the hands of one of their own, the one and only Mack McClaggen!'

Boos filled the air from the Gryffindor supporters, of whom, it was easily noted by all, Mack was not one.

'I am joined-', Alfie Jordan continued, his voice booming around the stands, 'by the wonderful, the beautiful, and the very talkative, _Jessica Reading!'_

 _'_ Hello there Hogwarts!' Jessica's voice joined Alfie's in soaring over the crowds. 'And there is Coach Hendrix, overall quidditch trainer and referee, walking out onto the pitch- oh he's dropped his broom, never mind Coach! And he's picked it up and dropped the chest containing those all important balls. Look Alfie, he's shooting me the death glare.'

'Indeed he is, my dear Jessica. Such animosity! The doors to the changing rooms are opening and here come the teams! In yellow and black we have the resilient badgers: O'Flaherty, Applebee, Summerby, Livington, Smith, Weasley and Ives!'

Applause from the Hufflepuffs and Slytherins.

'And here come the Gryffindors', Jessica shouted. 'Oxley, Lucas, Simpson, Malfoy, Potter, Weasley and Weasley!

'The whistle blows, and they're off! And it's Weasley with the quaffle, passes to Oxley, reverse passes to Lucas, passes to Weasley- bludger from scary Weasley, bludger defence from little Weasley, just the keeper to beat! Gryffindor SCORE!'

'I feel like Gryffindor have a lot to prove during this match', Jessica said, when the cheers had stopped ringing around the pitch. 'After the disaster that was their match against Slytherin, they need to pull out all the stops to make any headway in this competition at all.'

'Well I goal in the opening three minutes is not going to hurt their chances', Alfie replied. 'Hufflepuff Keeper Hugo Weasley feints, then passes to Applebee who- drops the quaffle after only just ducking a bludger from scary Weasley. Caught by Lucas who zooms up the pitch. Dodges a chaser, a bludger, another chaser, a Weasley and SCORES!'

'Now I think that we should assign code names to all the Weasleys on the pitch here today.' Jessica said. 'We have Scary Weasley, and Little Weasley of course. But Scary Weasley's little brother is making an appearance as keeper today. Hence he shall be called Canary Weasley, after the robes that mismatch so spectacularly with his hair.'

'Fascinating as this is', Professor Marchling said dryly, 'Maybe you could tell the spectators what is happening in the game?'

'Sorry Professor', both commentators chimed.

'Just trying to keep it interesting', Jessica said.

'Adding a little colour', Alfie added.

'Hufflepuff break through and score their first goal of the match-' Jessica shouted.

'Which Gryffindor is not putting up with', Alfie answered. 'As Potter and Oxley put away a goal apiece.'

Spurred on by their early capture of the lead, Gryffindor performed flawlessly, putting away another six goals over the course of the next thirty minutes, while Hufflepuff lagged behind on thirty points. Still, Hugo was getting into his stride, blocking at least three quarters of the shots the Gryffindor chasers aimed at him. Bludgers were flying everywhere, and the two seekers were circling high above the rest of the game, as much to avoid being splatted, as trying to search for the snitch.

Beneath the players, the commentary was coming faster and faster.

'And it's Applebee-'

'Summerby-'

'Stolen by Lucas-'

'Reverse passed to Potter-'

'Bludger from Smith, and Potter swerves to avoid-'

'O'Flaherty snatches the falling quaffle-'

'And drops it again as Scary Weasley hits a beautifully aimed bludger-

'Oxley ceases the quaffle and SCORES!'

By the time Gryffindor was leading by almost a hundred and twenty points to Hufflepuff's forty, the snow had started again, and the temperature had plummeted. The spectators in the stands were shivering, pulling their thick woollen cloaks close about red ears, and they thought with some sympathy of the players high above, almost frozen to their broomsticks.

'I bet you, Jessica Reading', Alfie Jordan yelled, 'that if Gryffindor win by more than two hundred points, that you have to kiss me!'

'Deal!' Jessica yelled back. 'You numpty! I'm your girlfriend!'

'Folks of Hogwarts', Alfie bellowed, 'My incredible girlfriend!'

'Gryffindor lead by eighty points, Applebee with the quaffle.' Professor Marchling said resignedly.

'Applebee tackled by Potter- Was that the snitch?'

'Malfoy's diving! He's diving, and Ives is hot on his tail. They're diving, they're going to crash!'

But both sneakers had pulled out of the dive, mere feet above the snowy pitch. Only one, however, waved his hand above his head in triumph, only one bellowed his victory, only one was dive-bombed by his respective time in celebration.

Marco Ives landed, and threw his broom away in disgust.

 **...**

 **The Quidditch Pitch**

 **14oo hours**

 **...**

'We won! We won!' Lucy fell off her broom as she saw Scorpius clutching the tiny fluttering ball. Fortunately she was hovering only about five feet from the ground, and she sank at least six inches into the snow. Screams of joy, shouts of the team, bellows from the supporters, were all echoing in her ears.

A hand partially blocker her view of the sky and falling snowflakes, and she grasped it. Trevor pulled her to her feet and engulfed her in a hug that was woolly scarf and warming charms.

'S-so warm', she spluttered, through chattering teeth, and buried herself into his cloak.

He gave a minute to return to a more natural temperature, then grabbed her by the waist, spinning her around.

'Congratulations! You were amazing Lucy, the best player on the team!' And so saying he kissed her, very quickly, on the mouth, then turned, as though nothing had happened, to congratulate Erin.

The back of Lucy's neck went red.

Sensing a pair of eyes on her, she turned and saw Tommy Tillian standing a good few feet away, looking uncertain. He did not try to approach her, simply giving her his congratulations, then slipping away into the crowd dancing around on the pitch.

'You know, they both like you.' Alex Simpson said.

Lucy jumped, and spun around to face him.

'Me?'

'Yes, you. Have you any thoughts about them?'

Lucy didn't speak for a moment. Her friendship with Trevor Warrington had surprised her at first, but now she knew that they were well on the way to being the next Scorpius and Rose, friends for life. Tillian? Well, his heartfelt apology before Christmas had surprised her, yes. And he certainly seemed changed in the last three weeks that they had all been back at Hogwarts. But that certainly didn't mean she was ready to trust him.

'Many.' She admitted, and he smiled wryly. 'The whole "new side" of Tommy thing is just too new. I have no idea if it will last or not. And while I really like Trevor, I don't want to sacrifice our friendship for a potential relationship I don't feel ready for.'

Alex shouldered both of their brooms, and offered Lucy his arm.

'You are wise beyond your years', he said, and they followed their captain off the pitch.

 **...**

 **The Gryffindor Changing Rooms**

 **14oo hours**

 **...**

'It was so obvious!' Rose groaned as she paced up and down the locker room. Her team gazed her enquiringly, though without much apprehension for Rose's pedantic blow-by-blow after match plays were legendary.

'What was obvious?' Lily asked. Her hand was securely wrapped in Keegan's, under cover of her splayed scarlet robes, and he almost unconsciously stroked the back of her hand with his thumb.

'Findley's the one who planted the listening charms.' Rose said, abruptly halting her furious pacing. 'I caught him in here not five minutes before you got off the pitch, poking about with my files.'

' _Findley_? Erin's mouth fell open. ' _Findley_ , as in assistant groundskeeper _Findley._ The super hot _Findley_ , the _Findley_ that totally fancies our own beloved Captain?'

'Exactly!' Rose erupted. Then: 'What?'

'Our fanciable captain aside', Scorpius said dryly, 'How do you know he was the one planting the charms?'

'Because I caught him', Rose said triumphantly, holding up a tiny glass charm. It had the appearance of melted rubber. 'My wards caused it to catch fire, and it set his hair on fire!'

'He must be a scout', Lucy piped up. 'I thought he looked familiar.'

'He let slip to me ages ago that he knew Aunty Ginny professionally', Rose added. 'That sneaky little-'

 **...**

 **Outside the Changing Rooms**

 **143o hours**

 **...**

'Erin, can I have a quick word please?'

Erin glanced around as the team, with many a good-natured shove and laugh, began to wind their way back to Gryffindor Tower and the party that was sure to be happening there. She skidded slightly in the slush, she stopped so suddenly.

'Amélie, what are you doing here?'

Erin felt Rose stop behind her, concerned about her player, but Erin turned to her. 'You guys go on', she said, forcing a smile. When her friends were gone, Erin took Amélie's arm and dragged her out of the main path of students heading back up towards the castle.

'What are you doing here?' She repeated, trying to quench the feeling in her stomach that had risen at the sight of Amélie's dark curls and petite figure.

'I wanted to talk to you', she replied. 'And since you've been avoiding me, this was the only way I could think of to see you face to face.'

'I haven't been avoiding you', Erin lied.

'You're a terrible liar', Amélie said.

'I haven't', she protested, untruthfully. 'I went home for the Christmas holidays-'

'Bull', Amélie said firmly. 'We've been back three weeks. Don't try and deny it, I know you've been avoiding me.'

'I didn't mean too', Erin said softly, absently yanking on one of her dreads. 'There's just been so much going on in my head, and I didn't know how to cope with it all.'

'I get that.' Amélie said slowly, reaching out and taking Erin's hand. It was cool against her hot skin, and it suddenly seemed to Erin that their hands fit so perfectly, as though designed to fold together.

'I was scared', Erin admitted, staring down at the ground. 'I wasn't sure what my feelings for you were, and I was terrified that I was going to sabotage it - you - just like my mother did. I couldn't bare for you to go through the same rejection with me as well.'

'You couldn't mess it up', Amélie whispered. 'You have one of the biggest hearts of anyone I know. And think about it this way; we both know what it's like coming from a home like that, so we know how to avoid those kind of things. I know I will never, _ever_ , walk out on something like my dad did. Just like I know you won't ever become your mum.'

'Look who's the starry-eyes optimist now', Erin teased, drawing a little nearer to Amélie.

'Can I tell you a secret?' she whispered, and Erin nodded. 'You make me want to be an optimist.

The two lent forward and their lips met, as white flakes continued to fall.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **A shorter chapter today I'm afraid, and rather rushed. However, I thought it would be better to post on Sunday, rather than force you to wait another day for a slightly better proof-read chapter. However, I will apologise here for any typos!**

 **What did you think?**

 **Shout out to Connected-by-a-Semicolon who called Findley as the secret bugger - you win a new virtual Firebolt!**

 **Did you like the commentators?**

 **Erin and Amélie, thoughts?**

 **James and Lizzie, did she make the right choice?**

 **Next chapter there will be major development on the Lily/Keegan, and the Rose/Scorpius front, I PROMISE!**

 **Review, and let me know what you think.**

 **Love and hugs**

 **A.A.A.**

* * *

The Irregular Opposition - A Character Plan

This is a comprehensive list of every character, both canon and my own characters, that attends Hogwarts during the school year of 2023/2024. I haven't created every single character in the entire school (as that would be in the thousands!) so these are the ones that have been mentioned, however briefly, in The Irregular Opposition.

 **.**

 **The Seventh Years:**

(Gryffindor)

 _Rose Weasley, Dinah Lee, Jenny Tomlinson, Lisa Markson, Karen Sommage._

 _Albus Potter (Head Boy), Scorpius Malfoy, Mack McClaggen, Keegan Lucas, Sean Finnigan._

.

(Hufflepuff)

 _Isabelle Summers, Lizzie Longbottom, Belinda Bones, Natalie Rivers, Susanne Walkers, Rosemary Woods._

 _Marco Ives, Harold MacMillan, Lawrence Livington._

.

(Ravenclaw)

 _Amity Chang, Amy Perry, Manar Ling, Celia Raventhorpe, Martha Bobbins._

 _Roger Davies, Joshua Lemming, Rufus Ringwald, Michael Cheung, Jacob Stebbins._

.

(Slytherin)

 _Cecelia Greengrass, Mariella Nott, Tabitha Nott, Mercury Bullstrode, Meredith Trode._

 _Stanley Bibbington-Smythe, Stuart Flint, Charles McNair._

.

 **(The Sixth Years:)**

(Gryffindor)

 _Christian Boyle, Alfie Jordan._

.

(Hufflepuff)

 _Meagan O'Flaherty._

.

(Ravenclaw)

 _Johnny Masters, Jessica Reading_

.

(Slytherin)

 _Digby Warrington_

 _._

 **(The Fifth Years:)**

(Gryffindor)

 _Lily Potter, Erin Oxley._

 **.**

(Hufflepuff)

 _Tallulah Applebee, Zoe Smith._

 _._

(Ravenclaw)

 _Melissa Stretton, Jason Inglebee, Amélie Greengrass._

 _._

(Slytherin)

 _Gideon Goyle_.

.

 **(The Fourth Years:)**

(Gryffindor)

 _Alex Simpson._

.

(Hufflepuff)

 _Peter Summerby._

 _._

(Ravenclaw)

 _Tommy Tillian, Julianna Corner, Ruby Goldstein, Roger Goldstein._

 _._

(Slytherin)

 _Arthur Pucey._

.

 **(The Third Years:)**

(Gryffindor)

 _Lucy Weasley, Ella Martin, Violet Johnson, Katrina Simmington, Mary Monroe, Letty Hatter._

 **.**

(Slytherin)

 _Trevor Warrington._

 _._

 **(The Second Years:)**

 _Oddly enough, there are none at all..._

 **.**

 **(The First Years:)**

(Ravenclaw)

 _Molly Weasley, Ruthie Maxwell._

.

(Slytherin)

 _Giles Warrington._

.

I hope this helps for things to be a little clearer.

A.A.A.


	17. Chapter 17

**Rating warning for brief descriptions of sex**

* * *

 _Chapter Seventeen_

 **...**

 **13th February [Albus's Eighteenth Birthday]**

 **The Gryffindor Common Room**

 **23oo hours**

 **...**

Hugo enjoyed people watching.

He was, by business and inclination, a loner, though his family didn't allow him to spend too much time by himself. He was an odd assortment, an oxymoron: A Hufflepuff who enjoyed illicit activities; his parent's baby boy, who made more money than his father; a student of average intelligence who could out negotiate and argue even the wiliest of Slytherins; a perpetrator of trouble, yet a loyal friend and brother. That was not to say he could not be delightfully straightforward when he wished, it was simply that he found saying what he meant boring.

It was in this capacity, as onlooker, and also caterer and procurer of illegal drinks, that Hugo walked the perimeter of Albus's eighteenth birthday party, storing away the details in the expanse of his brain for future reference and use. One never knew when leverage might be needed, especially in the Wotter clan.

He passed Lizzie Longbottom, who was deep in conversation with Isabelle Summers, and found Albus. He appeared entirely the worse for Gin Newts and was leaning on Rose who looked non-to-steady either, an empty, slightly smoking shot glass in hand. Hugo paused to listen.

'Is there anything more depressing than being single on Valentine's day?'

'Being alone on New Year's Eve? Being alone at Christmas? Anyway, you've still got about an hour before Valentine's day, so you've got time to find a date.'

'Not quite the commiserating reassurance I was hoping to hear.'

'Since when have I ever told you what you wanted to hear?'

Hugo moved on.

...

Unaware that they were the objects of Hugo's observations, Rose and Albus continued their own morose musings, standing well out of the way of the exuberant dancers who were swaying, grinding and falling over by turn.

'All I'm saying', Al continued, taking another mouthful from his goblet, 'is that it's pathetic that I'm alone on my birthday.'

'You did the right thing with Lizzie', Rose said absently, watching as Scorpius crossed the dance floor, clumsily avoiding Laurie Livington and Karen Sommage in mid grope. She raised her hand, but he didn't appear to see her, instead walking over to Isabelle and Lizzie and joining in with their conversation.

'Doesn't make it hurt any less.' Al grimaced, draining the last of his gin newt.

Isabelle snorted with laughter at something Scorpius said.

'You know', he said, following the direction of her eyes. 'You did the right thing there as well.'

'About what?' She asked, her eyes still fixed on Scorpius.

'Not acting totally jealous about Scorpius and Isabelle being friends.' Albus upended his goblet. 'Empty', he said sadly.

'Mine too', she commiserated. 'And I'm feeling pretty jealous right now.'

'That's because you're drunk.' Al said sagely. 'And only firewhiskey will make that feeling go away.'

'Lead on Macduff', she said, reaching out and grabbing her favourite cousin's hand.

'Who?' Al asked.

...

Albus was not allowed to stand morosely on the edge of the dance floor for long, and soon the birthday boy was dragged into the crowd of dancers by Dinah and Jenny. The drink in his hand was soon gone, and equally quickly he was soon shouting along to New Moon Werewolf with the rest of the dancers.

 _'Baby, you looked shocked, it's not a good look, I'll teach you things you can't learn in books. I won't be good, I won't be true, but whisper nox and I promise you, this new moon night's for me and you. '_

Rose made her way around the edge of the dance floor, avoiding a kissing couple in one of the comfortable chairs by the fireplace, and, grabbing a bottle of butterbeer, headed for the high window. Behind the heavy scarlet drapes was a window seat where she could collapse for a few moments and try and organise her muddled thoughts.

 _'So down your lucky potion, you're dancing in the clouds, promise me this darling, you'll never come back down. I can't promise you tomorrow, but I promise you this, this night could be pure magic with just one kiss.'_

She took a swig from her bottle and pulled aside the curtain, ready to collapse onto the comfortable cushions there.

The problem was, there was already someone there.

 **...**

 **[Ten Minutes Earlier]**

 **...**

'I love this song', Lily yelled over the pounding beat as she dragged Keegan through the crowds of people.

'I don't know it', he yelled back, rescuing his glasses from a particularly effervescent dancer.

'It's Ministry of Madness!' She yelled back. 'You know the guy from the Weird Sisters?'

'No', he laughed, 'But then I'm not still listening to music from the nineties!'

She hit him lightly on the chest. 'Idiot! It's his son's band!'

'Do you want to dance?' He yelled back as the beat quickened.

Lily had not lied when she said she loved the song. She could feel the beat echoing up through her shoes, pounding in her chest as her heart sought to match each throbbing reverberation of sound. It made her feet light, her body fluid, her mind loose as she danced. The beat was building and she closed her eyes, screaming along with the words.

 _'Cast your spell, unadulterated bliss. Burn me down to ashes, steal me with a kiss!'_

There was no space between them as they moved together, hands scraping sweat soaked skin, their voices merging together with the revellers.

 _'I'm a phoenix, I'll rise above all this. Pull me closer to the fire, steal me with a kiss!'_

They hardly knew when the words became truth, when the singing became kisses; the beat was echoing up inside them, and months of caution became irrelevant, foolish even. The intoxicating music, the moving bodies, the burning alcohol still stinging their mouths, it all became one heady, exhilarating moment.

 _'Without you I'm just ashes, lost in the abyss. My heart is yours forever, so steal me with a kiss!'_

And the music was fading.

They pulled apart as a slower song melded with the last heavy beat, then replaced it entirely.

'Do you like this song too?' Keegan asked, his breath fast.

'No', Lily gazed at him. 'New Moon Werewolf was always a little depressing for my taste.'

Then:

'I think I'm in love with you, Lily Potter.'

Her eyes widened, her cheeks, flushed from the exertion on the dance floor, became pinker. Her words were so quiet they were lost in the music, but he knew and so did she. So she kissed him again, and lead him to the alcove where the heavy drapes deadened the lilt of New Moon Wolf as he crooned:

 _'So down your lucky potion, you're dancing in the clouds, promise me this darling, you'll never come back down. I can't promise you tomorrow, but I promise you this, this night could be pure magic with just one kiss.'_

 **...**

'Lily?'

Rose blinked, then checked her bottle, wondering if she had accidentally picked up essence of insanity, rather than butterbeer.

' _Keegan?_ '

'There's no need to say it like that', Lily said crossly, folding her arms. 'Keegan's incredible-'

'I'm not disputing that.' She took a gulp from her bottle, suddenly wishing it was something stronger. 'Why didn't you tell me?'

'Why didn't we tell you?' Lily gasped, actually shocked that her cousin, whom she had previously thought quite intelligent, had asked such a foolish question. 'Because you're _you!_ You're Quidditch-Before-Everything Rose, Rule-Number-Three Rose-'

'Actually the no dating rule is number one', Rose murmured.

'My point exactly!' Lily pointed out. 'Rose, I care about quidditch, and Keegan, and I care about you which is why we kept it secret. It would have broken your heart if I'd dropped off the team to be with Keegan and I couldn't do that to you.'

'What happened-' Rose said slowly, 'To family first?'

Lily's face went white. 'You can ask me that?' She cried, 'You honestly care so little about my feelings that you can stand there and ask me to break up with the guy I'm in love with because of some stupid rule-'

'What? No! Of course not Lily. What are you talking about?' Rose wished her brain was working with a little more fluidity. Her muddled cloudy thoughts were making it hard to elucidate. 'I meant, why didn't you simply talk to me about it? That rule was meant to stop people having brief affairs, then falling out with each other. Not stop two people who want to be together from being happy!'

'I thought-' Lily broke off as Keegan took her hand.

'We both thought that, and I'm sorry Rose', he said. 'We misjudged you, but we didn't want to stand between you and your dreams.'

'My dreams have changed a bit this year', Rose admitted, and, almost unconsciously, she glanced over to where Scorpius was stood with Isabelle and Lizzie.

'Look', she said, turning back to Lily and Keegan. 'Be happy, that's all I really want. You once called me a machine, but I'm not, I'm truly not. I just see things a little differently to you, that's all.'

Lily felt something rise in the back of her throat, and choked it back with difficulty. 'I should never have called you that Rose, and I'm so sorry.'

'I'm sorry too, I should never have become a person you didn't feel able to talk to. Family was always meant to come first, and I forgot that for a while.'

Lily wrapped her arms around her cousin, and Rose held her tight for a moment, before releasing her.

'A word of advice, if you're going to tell Al, do it tonight while he's drunk. Then, when he's forgotten it in the morning, I'll tell him he's already done the whole defensive older brother routine. It'll be less painful that way.'

...

Albus took the news that his best friend was dating his little sister reasonably well. Usually he left the vague threats of general violence against his sister's boyfriends to James who was much better at it, and seemed to garner a slightly worrying satisfaction from it. Still, he went through the motions, slightly ruined by the fact that he over balanced at once point and Keegan had to pull his friend back to his feet. Mostly though, he congratulated the couple on finding happiness.

From the corner of his eye, he noticed Lizzie rolling her eyes at that.

Still, it was hard to watch them dancing together, not because of their relationship to himself, but because they looked so happy. In fact, wherever he looked he could see couples. For crying out loud, even Mack, _Mack!_ , scourge of the quidditch pitch, most hated boy in Gryffindor currently had his head buried in Susanne Walker's neck. It helped, of course, that Mack was almost seven foot tall and had muscles whereas he was kind of _nuggetty_ in appearance, but still...

He had always disliked the fact that his birthday was the day before Valentine's day; it was the ultimate double punch to the stomach. He was used to being alone on his birthday, that he was resigned to, but then to wake up and be alone _again_ and on the national holiday of love. That was just depressing.

He looked down at his drink, then set it back on the table. The room was hot and sweaty, and he suddenly felt so out of place that he wondered why he was still there. Midnight was a time for couples and kisses, not standing alone at the edge of a party, so he searched for Rose and Scorpius in vane, finding Sean and Dinah swaying on the dance floor near Keegan and Lily, Laurie and Karen in a corner, Jenny with Jacob Stebbins...

The music changed, becoming slower and softer, and he leant against the wall, listening to the words.

 _'The night's drawing to an end, and what have I got left to hold? I thought this liquid luck would paint my heartstrings gold... But the clock chimes midnight and I'm all alone, oh how the time has flown.'_

'Bloody hell', he groaned, 'It's like the universe is conspiring against me.' He reached out and punched the wall, then swore as his knuckles began to throb.

'Al? Are you okay?'

Erin was stood behind him with another girl, whom he didn't recognise _,_ and the mixture of worry and alarm on her face made him laugh.

'I'm not about to turn into a werewolf, so don't worry. I just really hate this song, that's all.'

'But just listen to the chord progression', the unknown girl said, 'Then the underlying beat of the bass guitar which ties everything together. It manages to be fragmented, and yet smooth all at once.'

'I didn't know you were a fan of Flightless Snitch, Amélie', Erin said, and Albus suddenly recognised the girl.

'Hey!' He said. 'Don't you have an older sister in Slytherin?'

'Cecelia? Yes, that's right, she mentioned that you two met before Christmas.'

'Will she be in the Slytherin common room at the moment?' Al asked.

Amélie checked her watch. 'It's quarter to midnight so unlikely. You'd probably find her in Greenhouse Seven at this time of night.'

If Albus had been more sober at this point, he might have questioned the veracity of this statement, but in his less than compos mentis state, it seemed the most logical thing in the world.

'Thanks!' He said, and hurried past them, not seeing their inquisitive glances.

'Well, that was strange.' Amélie said. 'What was that all about?'

'I have no idea.' Erin replied as Albus vanished into his dormitory, only to re-emerge a few moments later wrapped in his heavy cloak, a Gryffindor scarf entwined around his neck.

'If he thinks Cecelia is going to help him get over Lizzie, he's mistaken', Amélie said sadly as Al fell out of the portrait hole. 'She's going to stomp all over his heart in four inch stiletto heels.'

'I don't think he's really looking for anything long term right now', Erin replied, taking Amélie's hand. 'I think he just wants to feel a little less alone.' Then, 'Come and dance.'

...

Hugo watched Erin and Amélie sway together with a small smile on his face. It was hard not to watch, to smile, for there was a look of such contented bliss on their faces, and Hugo wondered what it would be like to feel like that.

Hugo had long ago realised that he didn't feel for the opposite gender what his dorm mates did. When puberty dealt its unpleasant hand, he had watched with some confusion the way his friends went crazy over the girls, how they tried (and failed) to impress them, how they could think of little else.

Hugo was intelligent, and so naturally assumed that his affections lay elsewhere. But again, nothing. And so Hugo came to the conclusion that perhaps love was simply not for him. He didn't particularly mind, the intellectual had always appealed to him more than physical attraction, and he did not think that his dislike for the sexual would stop him forming relationships of the brain in the future. Now he didn't even feel wistful, only a little curious to understand how it worked.

He also knew that his parents would not care. When Scorpius and his dear sister stopped mucking about and finally got together (something for which he was the family bookie), they would fulfil all their mother's dreams of grandchildren. Rose loved children and, though she would hardly admit it, was highly traditional when it came to her dreams of the future. A career, certainly, but then afterwards a family.

That was the thing about the Wotter clan, they were so accepting. When Roxie had come out, with her typical flair for the dramatic, it could not have been less of an issue. Family first was the Wotter rule for a reason. Hugo had read enough about how his family had been treated in the Second Wizarding War to understand how fear of the unknown leads to hate, to violence, to segregation.

Hugo hoped the world would never go back to those times.

 **...**

 **Greenhouse Seven**

 **00oo hours**

 **...**

The greenhouse was a frosted cavern of steamy air; a domed paradise of tropical plants at odds with the heavy snow that encased the iridescent glass, opaline against the myriad brightness of petals and leaves. His breath, floating in front of him on the frozen air just minutes before, condensed to steam in his throat as the heat broke over his skin. Sweat pricked his forehead, and he moved to wipe it away, his winter clothes suddenly heavy and cumbersome.

He found her tending to the knight roses beneath the heavy spotlight that conjured fake moonlight down onto the blue petals.

' _Lunam Dilige'_ , she said without looking up, 'from the _Nocte Comantem_ family of roses. They only bloom under the light of the full moon, but here, in a conservation environment, they bloom each night.' She lightly reached out and brushed the pad of a fingertip against the petals.

'I wanted to try cross-pollinating them with _Diligit Dies',_ she continued. 'A day rose from the _Die Comantem_ family. Create a rose that only blossoms when night and day meet.'

'Have you managed?' Albus asked, taking a step forward.

'No', she said, and waved her wand at the spotlight, dimming the artificial moon. The blooms began to close into tight buds, leaves the colour of mercury folding up to shield the velvet petals from view. 'But I shall carry on trying.'

Though silence fell between them, the air was not empty, for the greenhouse whispered and hummed as magic entwined the growing vines. Albus had only been in this greenhouse once before, and had found it a poor excuse compared to its fellows that contained Tentacular, mandrakes, great trees with leaves the colour of Felix Felicis that clambered across the roof panels, filtering the light to colour of liquid luck. By day, Greenhouse Seven was nothing more than a steam filled room filled with immovable plants that seemed lost in their own indifference.

By night, the plants seemed to breathe, to draw in the moonlight, to exhale an indefinable magic. The air was filled with a thousand fluttering insects, pausing to land upon a fragrant bloom, to bow their head to sweet nectar, to rise again only to alight elsewhere. Albus reached out a hand, and a silver dragonfly alighted upon the tips of his fingers. He stood, hypnotised as the tiny gossamer wings fluttered then took flight.

' _Argentum Lunea_ ', Cecelia said as the dragonfly landed on the closed bud of the Knight Rose. 'In medieval times wizards used to think the dragonflies drank only the moonlight that collected in the night blossoms, and that if they were to do the same they would stay young forever.'

'Did it work?' Albus asked, transfixed.

'Of course not, it's only nectar. But still, it does have magical properties. There are legends of dragons that live in the highest peaks of the Himalayan Mountains, in a valley called the Rim of Heaven. The legends say that because no creature can survive the altitude, the dragons learnt to drink moonlight to survive, and that this bleached their scales to the translucent colour of moonlight on water until the dragons became more air than flesh and blood.'

'How do you know these things?' Albus whispered to her back, for she still had not turned.

'My father used to tell me stories when I was a child. Amélie too. Once he left, Amélie wanted me to carry on telling them but we were both too big for fairytales by then. Still, I never forgot them. And if I wasn't a cynic then one day I would go to the Himalayas to look for the dragons that drink moonlight. But I am a cynic, and therefore I shan't.'

The finality in her final words broke the spell, and the dragonflies scattered.

'He missed out.' Albus said quietly. 'When he left. He missed out on you.'

'It's nothing, I don't care.' She said with a sanguine certainty that spoke many years accepted rejection. 'Monogamy is a patriarchal plot, an indefinable way to label something that cannot be classified in a feeble attempt to make this terrifying unknown seem fractionally more attainable. All marriage manages to achieve is a greater degree of hurt when it inevitably ends.'

'Is that really how you see relationships and marriage?' Albus asked, reaching out to place a hand n her arm. She shrugged away.

'I was thirteen when my father left. Amélie was too young, but I was older, able to see what she didn't understand. I remember hiding as a child under my father's desk in his study as he kissed his interns, his secretaries. I can still remember the spell of cheap perfume splashed across his desk. And yet my mother didn't care, she was so blinded by these so-called _rules_ , these promises of a happy forever that marriage blinds us with. She loved him so much that she had none left for us. When he walked out, her grief was so great that she forgot about us. There's a reason Amélie and I stay at Hogwarts for Christmas and Easter, year in, year out.'

'Cecelia, I'm sorry- I had no idea-' Albus started, but she abruptly turned around, reaching out to pull his scarf from his throat.

'Don't apologise', she whispered. 'It's your birthday. Let's not talk.'

Her mouth found his; her hands, the buttons of his shirt, the folds of his robes. They sank to the floor, locking together, panting in the steamy air as each sought reassurance in the other's pounding heart and sweat-soaked skin. Albus buried his face in her neck as their bodies writhed, wondering if he was lost in her scent, or whether he was imagining the soft slope of Lizzie's throat, or whether he was thinking of nothing at all.

When they pulled apart there were tears on her cheeks, and she rolled over onto her side, her back a shield between them as she caught her breath. And Albus, still lost in the ecstasy of thinking nothing at all, did not let her go, kissing the tears from her face with a gesture clumsy with uncertainty, before rolling away, knowing she would not permit more.

She made to leave, but he called her, entreated her to stay, to which she responded a firm denial.

'Please', he said, and the uncertainty in his voice made her pause. His hair was tousled, and he had replaced his glasses, but there was an uncertain boyish charm about him sprawled beneath the artificial moonlight. 'It's my birthday', he added.

One night cannot change many years resolution, she decided, and sank back down next to him.

'It doesn't mean anything', she told him, or perhaps herself, and they lay there and watched the dragonflies drink the moonlight from the knight roses.

...

 **...**

 **The Corridors**

 **[Thirty Minutes Earlier]**

Alex noticed Albus slipping out of the Gryffindor common room with relief. Among a small circle of friends, he was entirely at ease, but he found large gatherings such as this difficult to negotiate, not to mention tiring. After murmuring his goodbyes to his assortment of friends, he left the common room and took a deep breath in the quiet air.

It was nice to be invited to such things, and he enjoyed the company of his new found friends on the quidditch team, but the party had been too much; too loud, too fast, too crowded. It was nice to find a silent alcove and take some time to reorder his thoughts.

Once peace was restored he debated heading back to the party, but instead decided upon a walk around the castle. After curfew, he knew, and highly against the rules, but he enjoyed his solitary time.

It was as he was making his way through the castle, taking in all the details of how different the castle was at night when he heard a snuffle, and instinctively made his way towards the source of the noise.

Both the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw towers were accessible from the seventh floor, though opposite ends. Alex had never been inside Ravenclaw Tower, but supposed it was probably rather similar to his own house, though with less incredible views (though that might simply have been house pride).

He rounded a corner and found a stretch of wall, not unlike that on which The Fat Lady hung, and, about midway along, he saw a beautifully wrought bronze eagle's head protruding from the wall, a large ring for knocking between its beak. On the floor beneath this ornamental sight was a boy his own age.

Tommy Tillian looked up at the sound of approaching footsteps, and nodded to Alex in a dejected manner.

Alex was in the same year as Tommy and, as such, was familiar with his past behaviour and treatment of others. But he was also the confident of Lucy, and had discussed Tommy's apparent change in great length with her. So, though his inclination might have been to continue on his solitary ramble, he stopped and took a seat on the floor next to him.

'Forgotten the password?' Alex hazarded.

'Password? Oh no, we have to answer a riddle to get into our common room.' Tommy answered. 'But I can't work it out.'

'Well if you can't, there's no chance a Gryffindor like myself can.' Alex said, trying to lighten the tone.

'I wasn't meant to be in Ravenclaw.' Tillian said suddenly. 'The Sorting Hat didn't really know what to do with me, so it let me choose. But I'm not really clever.'

'And I get scared easily.' Alex replied. 'Yet the Hat still placed me in Gryffindor. Maybe you're smarter than you know.'

'What do you get scared of?' Tommy asked incredulously. 'You Gryffindors never are afraid to say what you think, to stand up against.. against people like me. Bullies, I mean.'

'When I was a kid', Alex said slowly, 'I had a speech impediment. I didn't talk until I was seven, and then I had a terrible stammer. It was awful. I was laughed at when I was at primary school, and because I found talking so difficult, I refused to do it. I didn't make friends easily.'

'That must have been hard.' Tommy said slowly.

'It was something I learned to live with.' Alex shrugged. 'But I still find large parties intimidating. I'm very introverted about things, you see. Not a typical brash Gryffindor.'

'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply-'

Alex waved away his words. 'We all are uniquely unhappy in our own way. It's what we choose to do, that is what makes us the people we become.'

'I became a terrible person.' Tommy said miserably, staring at the floor.

'Which you are trying to rectify.' He replied.

'I was just so bitter.' Tommy admitted. 'I was bullied all through primary school because I was fat and shy, and was determined not to be in that position here at Hogwarts. And now I'm trying to turn things around, but it's so hard.'

'Rose told us how hard you're working.' Alex said. 'And I was thinking that I ought to do more for my health. I could work out with you, if you wanted. Bit of company and all that.'

Tommy Tillian was not so lost in his own self-pity that he missed the proffered olive branch, and he gratefully grasped it.

'That would be great, thank you.'

'No worries.' Alex rose to his feet. 'Come on, let's try this riddle.'

Tommy stood as well, and reached out, tapping the eagle head knocker. Immediately the bronze bird sprang to life. A melodious voice rang out.

'I may only be given, never taken or bought. I am the great desire of sinners, but not saints. What am I?'

'Well that's easy', Alex grinned, but before he could elucidate there was the pounding of footsteps and Trevor Warrington sped into view. He noticed them and skidded to a halt, checking over his shoulder.

'You guys better run', he whispered. 'Professor Turpin's headed this way.

'What are you doing up here Trevor?' Alex asked.

'Sneaking up to Gryffindor Tower to meet Lucy at the party.' He replied. 'Are you guys coming?'

Tommy gestured vaguely to his common room, and the eagle knocker that was once more still, but Trevor overrode his words.

'Come to the party with us', he instructed. 'No, come on! There's no time.'

The three boys raced along the corridor as the familiar tap-tap of Turpin's shoes echoed behind them. Alex was gasping the password to the Fat Lady before she could even ask, and she swung forward. The boys clambered through, and she swung closed behind them.

They took a minute to calm their breathing, and Trevor immediately spotted Lucy who began to make her way through the crowds towards them.

Tommy turned to Alex. 'What was the answer to the riddle?'

Alex smiled.

'That was easy. It was forgiveness.'

 **...**

 **00oo hours [Midnight]**

 **...**

'Fancy a dance?'

Rose turned around to see Marco Ives smiling at her with his nice smile and very white teeth.

'Oh, I-'

Rose was not a great fan of dancing. She found the lightness of foot required difficult, and with her height she always felt like an erumpent, shuffling and gallomping alongside the sprites and nixies the other girls resembled. Her build was for endurance, for power, not hopping up and down on the spot and shaking her hips.

'Come on Weasley', Ives' grin widened. 'If my girlfriend can dance with your boyfriend, then why shouldn't we give them a taste of their own medicine?'

'He's not my boyfriend', Rose replied without thinking. Then: 'What? Who?'

Ives gestured with his hand.

Scorpius and Isabelle were dancing together on the edge of the dance floor. Well, Isabelle was dancing. Scorpius was awkwardly shuffling back and forth, obviously too uncomfortable and embarrassed to let go of his inhibitions.

Rose knew perfectly well that Scorpius could waltz with ease, foxtrot with finesse, could even tango, though he would only do that when highly intoxicated. But he disliked dances without set steps because he didn't know what to do. Usually, they sat at the edges of parties and made fun of people, secure in the knowledge that neither would ask the other to endure the humiliation of awkwardly shuffling around the dance floor.

He must really like her if he's prepared to dance with her, Rose thought sadly. She downed the rest of her drink, and dragged Marco onto the floor.

It was not as bad as she had feared, though that was probably due more to the large bottle of firewhiskey she had consumed. Mostly Marco danced, and she focused on staying upright.

'So how's the quidditch training going?' Marco shouted over the music.

She answered with an automatic deflection, and her eyes slid back to Scorpius and Isabelle. There was a polite distance between them, unlike the other couples on the floor, and they seemed more intent on talking than feverishly kissing.

'Rose?'

'What?' She snapped back to Marco who was smirking.

'Why don't we swap partners as it's obvious you don't want to be here with me.'

'I do, it's just I'm really bad at dancing-'

'You're not that bad.'

'I really am.' Rose smiled a bit. 'You're a charmer Ives, but there's no need to lie. I know perfectly well I'm a terrible dancer.'

'You need to loosen up', he said. 'Listen to the beat of the music and just go for it! You're too worried about what people think, about how you look to them. Don't be! I dare you.'

'I feel like I have my own motivational coach.' Rose grumbled, but she did pause to listen to the music. 'Ugh', she said. 'I can't stand Philosopher's Dream, they're so pretentious!'

'Shut up you.' Marco reached out and took her hand. 'Listen to the words and follow me.'

Rose closed her eyes. It was hard to hear the music over the singing of the crowd but Rose was excellent at separating herself from her audience. She let her mind go quiet, and her instincts take over, and the lyrics became discernible.

 _'-stuck in your corruption, making your assumption, incorrect deductions, Woah-oo! I'm drowning in your lies, the basilisk stare, you hold me petrified, petrified for your lies-'_

The music faded, another song, another rhythm taking its place. Rose opened her eyes.

'See?' Ives said, with a hint of smugness in his voice. 'I told you.'

Rose rolled her eyes, but didn't argue the point. 'Fine, you were right. But Philosopher's Dream suck, and I'm definitely right about that!'

Ives shook his head, smiling slightly.

'Do I need to tell you to get over there?'

'No...' Rose's voice betrayed her own uncertainty.

'Should I anyway?' He asked.

'Yes.' She answered.

'Go and dance with Malfoy, so I can have a dance with my girlfriend.' He gave her a gentle shove, and she began to wind her way through the crowds. But on seeing Isabelle sinking into Marco's arms, her courage failed and she changed course.

Scorpius searched the party for Rose, but in vain. The last he'd seen her, she'd been dancing with Ives, her long red curls, loose for once, swaying back and forth as she moved. He finally tracked her down, more by luck than anything, as she emerged from under the drinks table. She picked up another bottle of some ruby red liquid, and disappeared beneath the long white table cloth once more.

He knelt down and lifted the cloth.

'Room for one more?'

'I'll always make room for you', she said, and hiccupped.

He crawled forwards, and let the tablecloth fall once more. The fabric deadened the brightness of the lights, and from this side, the cloth was stained pulsating reds and gold. Yet, it was oddly peaceful there, and both could pretend that they were alone.

'You looked so beautiful when you were dancing.' He said, and immediately wished that he could catch the words in his hands and squash them back into his mouth.

'So did you.' She said, taking another sip from the bottle.

'I looked beautiful?' He joked, but she turned her blue eyes to him, and he felt his mouth go dry.

'You're the most beautiful boy I know.' She said, as though he ought already to know this fact.

They sat for a few minutes, idly passing the bottle back and forth between them. The bottle echoed the colours of the lights beyond their hiding place, illuminating scarlet, green, blue, blurring together. Scorpius felt his head begin to spin, so he focused on the music, trying to steady himself.

'Hey, Rosie', he whispered. 'They're playing your favourite song again.'

'Ministry of Madness?' She whispered back. 'Steal the Phoenix is Lily's favourite song too.'

They sat, listening as the heavy beat began to build, then Rose slid closer to him, letting her head rest against his shoulder.

 _'- Burn me down to ashes, steal me with a kiss! I'm a phoenix, I'll rise above all this. Pull me closer to the fire, steal me with a kiss!'_

'There's something I need to tell you Rose.' Scorpius said suddenly, twisting his neck to look down at her. Her dark red curls were splayed across his chest, and he found himself wondering what it would be like to run his fingers through the thick waves.

'Too tired', she muttered, and Scorpius saw that her eyes were closed, her dark lashes brushing her cheeks.

 _'Without you I'm just ashes, lost in the abyss. My heart is yours forever, so steal me with a kiss!'_

'No, Rose! I need to tell you this, you need to stay awake!' _I need to tell you this before I lose my nerve_ , he added silently.

He shook her shoulder, but she simply nestled further into his shoulder.

'I know,' she muttered into his chest. 'I love you too.' And so saying, she passed out into his lap.

* * *

 **A.N.**

 **The aforementioned moments! I really enjoyed writing this chapter, and I hope you enjoyed reading it - thoughts, emotions, ideas? Let me know!**

 **All the song lyrics are of my own creation, though I've never really tried writing music before. Was it successful? Should I give up the idea of a singer-songwriter career forever?**

 **Review!**

 **Thanks to Gandalf537, Barronis, and the guest reviewer for taking the time to review the last chapter! And a general thanks to everyone who has favourited or followed this story.**

 **Only a few chapters left now, I can't believe this story is almost over. So thank you to my incredible readers who have made this story such a joy to write.**

 **Love and hugs**

 **A.A.A.**


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen

 **...**

 **5th April**

 **The Hogwarts' Grounds**

 **06oo hours**

 **...**

Rose's body was screaming at her, but she ignored it and pushed her legs to go faster. The wind blowing in her face was cold and damp, the early morning mist coming off the lake, and it chapped her lips, scraped at her cheeks, made her eyes water, but she didn't care. Her thighs were burning as she climbed steadily, feeling the path beneath her feet, the early morning sunshine on the back of her head, and her breath was coming in short, shallow gasps. In the distance, about half a kilometre onwards, she could see Alex and Tommy jogging slowly towards her, but she ignored them, revelling in the freedom her body allowed her.

Going this fast almost felt like flying.

But even the speed, even her lightness of breath and tightness of chest was not enough to stop treacherous thoughts filling her mind.

The morning of Valentine's day, the day after Albus's party, she had awoken in Scorpius's bed with a pounding head and bile in her throat. She'd managed to stumble to the bathroom where, with the help of cold water and a toothbrush, she'd become marginally more human, scraping the make-up from around her eyes and forcing her unruly curls back into some semblance of order. Back in the boy's dormitory, she padded across the room and collapsed back onto Scorpius's bed, closing her eyes to shield them from the brightness leaking around the heavy curtains.

The bed felt cold, and when she shifted she realised she was alone.

Mack always kept a supply of hangover potions in the cupboard by his bed, and she had raided them, finding a vial standing behind a bunch of PlayWitch magazines. It was a dubious claim to fame, and much less wildly infamous than his tight abs and general physique, but Rose had once seen her ex boyfriend brew the potion when he was so drunk he couldn't stand up. A useful talent.

Her mental faculties restored, she had glanced at the clock and, seeing that it was only quarter past four, around the room. Scorpius was lying on the floor next to his bed, a blanket wrapped tightly around his shoulders, his head resting on his arm. He had looked so peaceful, with the gentle rise and fall of his shoulders, the small smile on his lips as though his dreams were happy, that Rose hadn't had the heart to wake him, instead tiptoeing to the door and letting herself out.

Over the course of the next few days, that night had come back to her. Incrementally at first, and then those words and his silence. Best to pretend it never happened. Best to forget she had ever said anything.

She'd avoided Scorpius at first, and of course he noticed. And when he'd finally called her on her dragon shit, she'd thrown it back in his face, her shame and fear of rejection making her sharp and cold.

The ensuing fight had been borne of uncertainty, and partly of obstinacy, for Rose was far too proud to admit she was in love with someone who did not love her back. With Mack, she reasoned, there had never been more than a superficial passing interest, an attraction skin deep, so it hadn't mattered about opening up to be hurt. With Scorpius, so much more was at stake, and in her muddled mind it seemed better to fight now, and be friends again later, than potentially lose him forever.

She missed him more than anything. It was only that the guy she fancied wasn't speaking to her, it was that she had lost her best friend. It was almost as though one of her limbs was missing, a physical reaction to what her own uncertainties had cost her.

So now, three weeks later, she forced herself to train harder, to run faster, to work out longer, in some misguided attempt to fill the void that was Scorpius in her life.

But it hadn't worked.

 **...**

 **The Charms Classroom**

 **11oo hours**

 **...**

'Prior Incantato. A peculiar spell that forces the receiver's wand to- Miss Weasley?'

'Prior Incantato, also known as the reverse spell, causes the receiver's wand to regurgitate a ghost of spells cast in reverse chronological order from the point of time in which the charm is cast. Typically used by lawyers in a court of law to prove the casting of a specific incantation.' Rose reeled off, not looking up.

'Very good.' Professor Harping said, and tapped the blackboard where Rose's words were scribbling themselves down. 'Furthermore-'

'Furthermore', Rose said, still focusing on her piece of parchment and the moving diagram there, 'There is a rare manifestation of this charm, Priori Incantatem, which only forms as a consequent of two identical wand cores attacking the other, leading the stronger caster to force the lesser to produce the echo of spells past.'

'Indeed.' Professor Harping said dryly. 'And as you seem to know all about this subject, despite the fact you are not paying attention to a word I say, perhaps you would like to come up to the board and teach the lesson for me.'

Professor Harping was famously sarcastic, not to mention a stickler for manners. He enjoyed the public humiliation of the students who tried to sass him in class, and took an almost sadistic pleasure in picking on students who he thought wasn't paying attention. Compared to the mild-mannered, universally adored Professor Flitwick who had retired at the end of Rose's fourth year, Professor Harping was wildly disliked by the majority of the school.

Rose finally looked up from the diagram she was sketching. 'No thank you.'

Professor Harping turned an interesting shade of puce. 'Weasley! Up here now.'

Rose, whose temper was already a little frayed from her furious, and much longer than usual, training session that morning, coupled with the fact that now she was fighting with Scorpius she was finding it hard to sleep, closed her eyes. Muttering a silent prayer to Merlin for patience, she unfolded her long legs and stood up, walking up to the blackboard.

Five Outstanding N.E.W.T.s, that was the deal she had made with her mother and Professor Marchling. Five Outstandings that she could achieve with minimal efforts, and very little time. Rose might not enjoy studying like her mother had done, but she absorbed information like the proverbial sponge and had an excellent memory. Such a combination drove most of the professors mad, until, as Professor Marchling had done, they finally accepted that Rose was never going to change and gave up trying to force her to become an academic. Harping though, he had yet to accept this fact.

'Now then Miss Weasley', he said silkily, taking a seat behind his desk and spreading his arms wide. 'Off you go.'

Rose rolled her eyes, wondering what was the best way to avoid detention that night as she had the quidditch pitch booked. If she simply stood there she would look weak and would probably be sent back to her desk with a detention for not paying attention. It was the sensible choice, bite her tongue, leave it well alone. But then she looked at Scorpius who was sat next to Albus in the front row, and something about his face goaded her into speech.

'Very well Professor, I will.' Rose picked up her wand and the piece of chalk flew into the air, beginning to sketch words onto the board behind her.

'Prior Incantato. Derivation: from the Latin meaning Former Enchantment, which is logical when you study the function of the charm. Of course it is a widely renowned enchantment, and if often used to prove either the innocence or guilt of a third party member as afore mentioned.'

Oddly enough, some members of the class were beginning to take notes. Rose swallowed a smile of triumph as the colour in Professor Harping's face heightened.

'The most famous example of this enchantment in living history is that between Harry Potter and Tom Riddle Junior, also known as Voldemort, the night of his second return to power, but there are many other examples throughout history which can be found in the next chapter of your textbooks.'

She flicked her wand and the enchantment written on the board split into three sections.

'Now, history and derivation aside, if we look at the suffix affixed to the end of Priori we can see a distinct pattern forming with other time-based spells. If we accept Madam Polkin's theory of relative time continuum as true, then we see-'

'That will do Miss Weasley. Sit down.'

Rose returned to her seat, but could not stop a smug smile gracing her features. As she walked past the desk where Albus and Scorpius sat, Al winked at her, but Scorpius averted his eyes. The grin slipped from her mouth, and she sank into her seat next to Dinah feeling oddly deflated.

She spent the rest of the lesson staring out of the window, idly twisting her wand between her fingertips, but Professor Harping left her alone, perhaps sensing he could not win in open warfare. Instead he held her behind at the end of the lesson where he pontificated elaborately on his disappointment with her lack of focus and class participation.

Rose bore his tirade in disinterested silence, idly wondering when it would end so she could go and get lunch before all the good food was gone. But when he finally released her with a verbal warning, she found Mack waiting outside the classroom.

Surprised, she didn't immediately walk past him, stopping as he began to berated Harping for his unfair treatment of Rose.

'Well, it was hardly unfair', She reasoned logically. 'I never pay attention in his lessons.'

'He's still a sadistic bastard.' Mack retorted. 'Did you hear what he made those second years do when he caught them passing notes?'

'Didn't he make them stand in buckets for the rest of the class?' Rose asked.

Mack snorted. 'I heard he made them scrub the floors with their toothbrushes.'

'That's hardly sanitary.'

It seemed so odd to be stood here with Mack after so many months of pointedly ignoring him. Over the last few months though, it had become too hard, not to mention boring, to keep icing him out. They moved in the same circles, they had the same friends. There were too few seventh years for one to be removed entirely without upsetting the balance of their year. And while Rose had not been what you could call effervescent with her affection, Mack had obviously thought the fact that she was acknowledging him again meant something else entirely.

'So Rose, how do you fancy coming to Hogsmeade with me next week?'

It was purely by chance that Rose looked up at the moment, and found there was a third member of their strange little party.

...

Scorpius had always been the one who was attentive in class, who took detailed notes, and never acted up. Rose used to be so lost in her quidditch schemes, or simply just bored with the whole fandango that she was constantly in trouble as a kid. As Rose grew older, and detentions began to cut into her training time, she stopped acting up, and the professors soon learnt to simply leave her alone.

He had no problem with Professor Harping, but then he was kind of a nerd, and enjoyed the class. Today however, he couldn't concentrate. Beside him, Albus was suppressing his laughter with difficulty, his shoulders shaking as Rose preceded to teach the lesson with far more detail than their Professor would have done. He however, did not see the funny side of things.

Never had he carried her so tenderly up to the dormitory and laid her in his bed to sleep. He'd reached out, smoothing her hair back from her freckled face with such warmth burning in his chest that he thought his face might break from smiling. The high; and then the comedown.

She remembered nothing, she would admit nothing, and it was that night in fifth year all over again. Was it any wonder he snapped? Her cold, sarcastic retorts, bourn of what? Fear? Uncertainty? Or worse - Indifference? All year he had wondered if her feelings had changed towards him. It was in the way she would touch him, even when she didn't seem to realise it. It was in the way a smile always came to her lips when he approached her. It was in a thousand minute moments that he now wondered if he'd imagined entirely.

Withdrawal was easiest. He couldn't remember a time when they'd fought as much as they'd fought this year. Years of friendship thrown away because of her obliviousness and his own feelings. It seemed easier to stay away.

 **...**

'What about Susanne Walkers?' Rose asked slowly, avoiding his gaze.

'What about her?' Mack seemed unconcerned. 'She was just a girl at a party, these things happen. You know that-' he added pointedly. 'Seeing as how the whole school knows you and Malfoy hook up when you're drunk.'

'We do not-' Rose spluttered.

'I saw you guys hiding under the table at Al's party.' He retorted. 'Look I'm not going to judge you-'

'Oh! You're not going to judge me are you? That's bloody big of you!' Rose growled. 'The answer is no, Mack, and you'd best leave me alone before I start to get really mad. '

'Everyone vilifies me for what happened to Malfoy in the match, but suddenly I'm a hypocrite when I call you out on your shit?' Mack gestured emphatically, his eyes narrowing. 'The only reason you get away with the way you act is because everyone's too scared of you to say anything. Well news flash Sweetheart, but the world doesn't revolve around you!'

'You want to know the real reason why I don't hook up with Scorpius?' Rose spat back. 'It's because I care about him far too much to _ever_ risk my friendship with him for the meaningless relationship we had. I don't want the world to revolve around me-'

'Sure you do', Mack retaliated. 'You're so arrogant, and you think you're better than anybody else. You obviously think you're too good to go out with me, you're too good to do anything more than play with your precious lapdog Malfoy-'

'Don't you dare talk about Scorpius like that!' Rose screamed, but Mack's tirade was ongoing.

'You're a bloody nightmare Rose, and you're going to end up alone because no-one can stand you!'

'Don't talk to her like that.'

A jumbled assortment of emotions flew through Rose as she watched Scorpius walking down the corridor towards them, his eyes flinty. Relief that he was there, discomfort at being found in such a position, then confusion and sadness as his eyes passed over her as though she was not even there.

'McClaggen, take your rejected sorry arse, and get out of here. You're not half the person Rose is, you're bitter and twisted. Rose might be a bloody nutcase, and the worse pain in the arse I've ever met-'

'Right here folks.' Rose muttered.

'But she's kind, and loyal, and she cares so much that she would sacrifice anything for me and our friends. You only care about yourself.'

Rose didn't hear Mack's retort, and barely registered him stomp off down the corridor. She was so touched by Scorpius's defence of her, even when he was angrily avoiding her, that she half expected that things had reverted back to how they were before their fight.

'Scorpius, I-'

'Save it', he muttered. 'I can't deal with you at the moment Rose.'

It was as though the hot air balloon of happiness inside her had got a puncture, slow leaking anxiety back into her insides.

'But-' She stammered. 'I thought- After you defended me-'

'Yeah?' He retorted, 'That's what best friends do Rose. You could have stabbed me in the back with a knife and I'd still defend you. This doesn't mean I like you very much at the moment though.'

...

It was always a competition among the first years who could make it from the last lesson of the day, on this particular Friday - Defence against the Dark Arts, down the moving staircases and into the Great Hall to snag the best of the dinner. Ruthie and Molly were among the few who chose to make a slower descent, chatting amiably as they let the rest of the class cavort off, full of weekend spirits.

They had just finished discussing the class, and had moved on to the far less academic topic of pumpkin pasties versus Fizzing Whizzbees when they heard a raised voice, then some shushing. Intrigued, Ruthie pulled Molly into an alcove as two seventh year boys appeared from behind a tapestry at the end of the corridor.

Peering out from behind the suit of armour, Molly and Ruthie watched as the two boys came into view and paused. The taller of the two, Ruthie recognised as the gorgeous Marco Ives, but she needed Molly's poke and whispered identification of the second boy.

Ives was looking uncommonly serious as Flint leant against the wall. His pose was casual, but the tenseness of his shoulders revealed a wariness his face did not.

'Just think about it', Flint was saying in a hushed voice. 'You will win the quidditch cup, not to mention the position with the Falcons, and we get to take Weasley down a peg or two which everyone will enjoy.'

'Weasley's all right.' Ives muttered.

'She's annoying', Flint grimaced. 'With her stupid rules and thinking she's the best quidditch player in the school.'

'She is the best quidditch player in the school.' Ives said fairly.

Flint scowled. 'Look- we're in a position to make all your aspirations come true. I don't think fifty galleons is too high a price for that.'

Ives' face was impassive. 'Spell it out for me, Flint. What exactly is it that you're proposing?'

'It's simple', Flint replied, 'You need to beat us by at least two hundred points to keep Gryffindor from having a hope of taking the cup. If we work together, we can make that happen...' He trailed off, arms opened expressively.

Ives' brow furrowed. 'You want Gryffindor to lose so badly, you're willing to sacrifice your own chances of winning? What's in it for you?'

'You're forgetting our fee. Fifty galleons is-'

'Fifty galleons is not worth one hundredth of what the Falcons are offering the winner of this competition .' Ives interrupted. 'What's really in it for you?'

'Personal gratification', Flint admitted. 'I was never going to win the competition, so now all I care about is making sure Gryffindor, and especially Weasley, doesn't win either.'

The level of animosity in Flint's voice surprised the watchers, both the acknowledged, and the two unseen. Ruthie let out a gasp and Molly clapped a hand over her friend's mouth.

'I know.' Molly mouthed. 'But shh.'

Ives said nothing, and as though the silence compelled him, Flint unwillingly continued.

'My father was never pleased that I wanted to play quidditch rather than join the family business. When I got my O.W.L.s, and they weren't as good as he wanted, he forbad me from playing any more quidditch after Hogwarts. He has considerable pull in the quidditch world, you know, and I knew no-one would ever consider trialling me after my father's smear campaign.

'So in a last ditch attempt, I wrote to Ginny Potter at the end of last year and she agreed to watch me fly, and to bring a scout with her. The scout was that buffoon Findley who's so taken with Weasley. Anyway, he told me that there was no way that the Falcons would ever consider taking me on, that I might as well just give up now.'

'Findley!' Ruthie gasped, and once again Molly flattened her hand over her friend's mouth.

'I know', she whispered back. 'Rosie said that Findley let slip that he knew aunt Ginny back in September.'

'And you know the worst part?' Flint was saying, his face contorted. 'Mrs Potter felt _sorry_ for me. But I knew she was laughing at me really. As though the league would ever employ a _Flint_!'

The last word was said with a contempt that both first years recognised. It was the same way some people said _'Malfoy'_ or _'Goyle'._ As though it was a dirty word, poisonous on the tongue.

'So you hate the family', Ives said. 'That doesn't explain why you're out to get Rose. Lily I could understand, she's Mrs Potter's daughter, but Rose is only her niece and there's millions of Weasleys besides her that you could take your anger out on.'

'Sainted Weasley', Flint sneered. 'So dedicated, so absorbed with quidditch. She doesn't see how her stinking rules ruin everybody else's lives.'

Ives looked perplexed. 'Her rules? But she only- _oh_.' Comprehension dawned on his face. 'Evelyn Wood.'

'We'd been dating on the quiet, but she kept going on and on about how bad she felt about betraying Rose's trust and breaking her no-dating other quidditch team members bull.'

There was sympathy on Ives' face as he watched the other boy, but it was short lived.

'So when Tabitha Higgs came to me', Flint continued, 'about her gambling problem, and how that rat, Hugo Weasley, who runs The Underground was asking about repayments I knew we could come up with a plan that was universally beneficial.'

'Don't call my star keeper a rat', Ives murmured absently.

'We were always going to lose.' Flint pressed. 'It's just a question of by how much that matters now. And then that's when we thought of helping out a fellow quidditch enthusiast.'

'And you thought of me.' Ives said, face completely blank.

Flint nodded. 'Do we have a deal?'

Ives' brow furrowed, and behind the suit of armour, Molly and Ruthie sucked in a breath, straining to hear every word.

'I have no beef with Rose', Ives said at last. 'But I won't deny that I want to win.'

Flint's smile slipped as he noticed the disgusted look on Ives' face.

'Go and find your cheat elsewhere, Flint. I'll win by my own merits, or not at all.' And so saying, he stomped off down the corridor. Just before he turned the corner, he stopped and look back.

'And for the record', he added, 'Rose is the best quidditch player in Hogwarts because she wants it so much that she's willing to do anything to achieve her dreams. She'd think it was the height of dishonour, to the sport, to the players, and also to herself, to even consider bribing and points shaving.'

Molly and Ruthie watched as Flint ran a hand over his face, then walked off in the opposite direction, before hopping out from their hiding place.

'Well.' Molly said, exhaling a breath.

'Right?' Ruthie replied. 'What should we do now?'

'We need to find Lucy.' Molly said firmly. 'She'll know what to do.'

 **...**

 **The Quidditch Pitch**

 **14oo hours**

 **...**

'That was a blatant display of cobbing, an outrageous foul against Hufflepuff from Mercury Bullstrode-'

'That was not a foul you twit', Jessica yelled back, her magically magnified voice breaking over Alfie Jordan's. 'Hufflepuff retain possession with nothing more than a busted nose-'

'That was completely a foul!' Alfie bellowed back. 'Are you really so stupid that you can't see what's happening in front of your long nose?'

'How dare you call me stupid in front of the entire school!' Jessica screamed back. 'You make flobberworms look intelligent!'

'And you couldn't catch a snitch if it flew up your sleeve!'

'It wasn't a foul!'

'It was so totally a foul!'

'If you think that was a foul then I want to break up!'

'Fine by me!'

Professor Marchling tugged the megaphone away from the now ex couple. 'Hufflepuff score! Hufflepuff lead seventy points to twenty.'

As cheers erupted from the Hufflepuff stands, the Gryffindor were quiet, watching the outcome of the match with baited breath. Never had a match their team were not playing excited such interest. The points factor was avidly recalculated every time either team scored.

Lucy had relayed every word overheard by her sister and Ruthie to Scorpius, while Molly had found their cousin herself. After much debating, some arguments, and several pointedly sharp comments, both sisters had managed to get Rose and Scorpius into the same room without the threat of bodily harm. Both Lucy and Molly had then fled, hoping their mutual love of quidditch, and the friendship that was still ingrained under the surface, would prevail over another foolish argument.

And it had. Neither had actively explained why they were angry with the other, nor had they assigned or accepted blame. Instead they had simply agreed that they missed each other too much to continue to fight. Quidditch was a soothing balm, as is a common foe, and soon they were both happily abusing Flint and discussing tactics. But while their fight was over, it was not forgotten. Nor was the reason they had fallen out in the first place. But nothing more was said, and that seemed to be for the best.

Now, sat together in the stands as Hufflepuff, they craned their necks skywards as the two commentators became more and more hysterical as they hurled abuse at each other, while Professor Marchling unsuccessfully tried to tug the megaphone away. Flint and Higgs were both flying so badly that it was clear that they at least, were trying to sabotage the game. But the other Slytherin players seemingly hadn't received the flying memo, because they were playing hard, whacking bludgers and generally making it difficult to score. But playing with two sabotaging team members was slowing them down, and Hufflepuff was steadily pulling ahead.

After two hours had passed, Hufflepuff was up by one hundred and seventy points, and Rose's heart was in her throat. If Ives caught the snitch then Gryffindor would have a nigh-on impossible total to chase. Beside her, Scorpius shuffled slightly, but she was too into the game to notice. Her mind was tracking every move, how the Hufflepuff's defence was adapted to suit a highly aggressive attack from the Slytherin beaters. It was academic, as Gryffindor had already played both teams, but to Rose it was second nature to see how Livington feinted slightly to the right before swinging back onto the bludger, adding spin to his swing, how Goyle's backhand lacked polish and finesse.

'That was not offside! You can't even be offside in quidditch!' Jessica was shouting.

'You can totally be offside!' Alfie yelled back. 'Otherwise they'd be playing over the Black Lake!'

'And that's not a stupid comparison at all, you daft-'

'Yes I know I'm a flobberworm, you dunce of a salamander!'

'And the seekers are rising fast.' Professor Marchling had finally succeeded in tugging away the megaphone.

'Ives' is the more experienced seeker.' Jessica added.

'That's true', Alfie agreed.

'I wouldn't expect Warrington to even have a shot at catching that snitch.' Jessica continued.

'It would be against all the odds.' Alfie added.

'The seekers are racing around the very top of the towers of the stands.' Professor Marchling said, smiling slightly as the two commentators tentatively took a step towards each other.

'Did we just agree on something?' Jessica asked, her voice still booming over the stands where the crowds were on their feet, cheering for their respective teams.

'I think we did.' Alfie nodded.

'Do you want to get back together?' Jessica questioned.

'Oh hell yes.' Alfie said.

Fortunately Professor Marchling had the sense to reverse the sonorous charm before the sounds of snogging could fill the stadium.

'I don't believe this', Lucy squeaked, jumping up and down in her seat. 'Trevor's caught the snitch! Slytherin's only lost by ten points!'

Rose let a gasp of air, and finally took in her surroundings as she returned to the present from her quidditch-induced haze. As Hufflepuff took a slight disgruntled lap of triumph, Rose turned to Scorpius and found him gazing at her intently. It was only then that she realised that her hand was clamped around his. She loosened her fingers, but didn't let go.

In fact, neither of them let go, not until all the crowds had left the stadium, the pitch was cleared and they were alone in the stands. Only then did they begin to make their way back towards the school, fingers still entwined.

 **...**

 **Hello my lovelies, another chapter for you. Only three more to go! I'm not hugely happy with this chapter, but I wanted to upload it on the Sunday as promised.**

 **Drop me a review, what did you think?**

 **Love and hugs**

 **A.A.A.**


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

 **...**

 **13th April**

 **The Three Broomsticks**

 **11oo hours**

 **...**

It was quite a procession that entered The Three Broomsticks and packed themselves around a large table near to the bar. Wedging themselves into the leather armchairs, and drawing up barstools; a few even perching precariously on the laps of their friends or significant others. Over at the bar Albus was casually flirting with the woman behind the counter, Sylvia, while her curvy aunt, and the proprietor of the pub, Madam Rosmerta watched with the students milling about with hawk eyes.

'We'll have, er- eleven butterbeers please.' Al said with his most charming smile. While she bustled about, collecting bottles, Al yelled over his shoulder. 'Oi! You lot, you'd better cough up some silver for this little lot. I'm not buying the full round!'

It took Albus, Keegan and Rose to carry all the drinks back to the table, and there was some general squabbling over who got the fullest of the tankards, before they all settled into their seats. The topic of the match the previous weekend was raised, and though it had been discussed in great length all week long, a play-by-play recount was once again expounded upon.

'All credit goes to Trevor for his wonderful catch', Lucy said, and Trevor beamed at her.

It was through the noisy bustle of conversation, and the occasional shouted greeting to other friends that entered the pub for a cooling drink out of the bright sunshine, that Albus began to realise the natural separation within their group.

Couples were to be expected, and no-one blamed Lily and Keegan for being deep in conversation with each other, absently sharing a drink. The younger students too, Lucy and her two admirers Tommy and Trevor were sniggering over the antics of the girls in her dormitory while Alex looked on, comfortably silent. Erin and Amélie whispered and giggled, and seemed so wrapped up in each other that no-one could drag their attention away. Albus watched as Erin reached up and smoothed a lock of hair away from Amélie's cheek, a gesture so surprisingly intermit that he felt intrusive and looked away.

Albus himself was sat between Rose and Scorpius, but the position was not a comfortable one for, between sneaking longing looks at each other, they also took every excuse to touch the other, so Al found drinks being passed across him as though he was not there. Still, it was nice not to be crammed into the library, pouring over dusty books as he forced himself to study for the upcoming N.E.W.T.s.

Behind the bar, the cuckoo clock began to chime, the small wooden bird flying once around the clock for every strike of midday. A small fairy, green and glimmering, was sat on the back of the enchanted cuckoo, hitching a ride. Glittering dust fell from every beat of the fairy's wings as they fluttered, keeping the tiny creature upright as it squealed with laughter with every circuit the bird made.

 **...**

 **12oo hours**

 **The Three Broomsticks**

 **[Lily and Keegan]**

 **...**

Over the bar, the cuckoo clock was chiming.

'Do you think that we've gotten over the exciting part of our relationship too early?' Lily asked, idly taking a sip of Keegan's drink.

'What do you mean?'

'Well', she said slowly. 'When we were sneaking around it was exciting and sneaky, and we had to pretend we didn't like each other, so there was added suspense. ' She chewed her lip.

'Do you mind that our relationship isn't exciting?' Keegan asked.

'I don't know. Don't get me wrong', she added hastily, 'I love you and I'm so happy to have you as my boyfriend, but we don't do any of the great romantic gesture stuff anymore. I know a lot of people think it's weird that we're a couple because we always seem to just be hanging out.'

'Actually', Keegan said with the ghost of a wry smile, 'people don't think we're dating because they can't believe someone like you would settle for someone like me.'

'That is not true-' Lily stuttered, but Keegan interrupted her.

'Of course it is. I happen to know for a fact that Robert Davies fancies you, and he's the Ravenclaw quidditch captain.'

'Robert?' Lily was amazed, and slightly disgusted. 'He dated my cousin, that's practically incest!'

Keegan snorted into his butterbeer. 'There's so many of you Weasleys and Potters it's hard not to find someone who's dated a member of your family. But jokes aside, I know what they think. I'm hardly a specimen of great masculine beauty.'

Lily let her eyes trail over her boyfriend. True, he was not traditionally masculine with his narrow hips and lean frame. A few spots of red were dotted across his forehead, and his hair was unkempt, but not in a fashionable way. He might wear glasses, and prefer studying to parties, but Lily had never cared about how he looked.

'You listen to me', she said forcibly, leaning forwards. 'So what? I never cared about looks, and the way you make me feel? Well, I've never felt like this with anyone other than you. You make me feel so happy, right here.' She pressed her fingertip across her chest. 'So who cares what people think. Sure, Davies might think I'm attractive, but I don't think he is. To me, there is no-one more handsome in all the world than you.'

Lily could always tell when he was embarrassed, because he found it hard to meet her eyes. Instead he took her small hand between his two larger ones and pressed his lips to her soft skin. A simple gesture, but it conveyed everything his tangled tongue couldn't.

'And you think we lack romance.' He grinned at her. 'That was probably the most romantic thing you could have said.'

She laughed as well. 'Just ignore me', she said good-humouredly. 'I'm thinking way too much into this.'

'No.' He picked up his tankard and drained the last of the butterbeer in it, then took her hand and stood up. 'You want romance, you sure as hell are going to get romance!'

'How very romantically forceful of you', she teased, also jumping to her feet.

'Come on', he said, and tugged her towards the door of the pub. 'We are going to have the most sickeningly romantic date in the history of Hogsmeade visits! We are going to the most ghastly, revoltingly romantic place in Scotland, and you will be so swept off your feet, that all other dates will fall without compare into the abyss of humdrum, platonic relationships!'

'You sure know how to get a girl going', Lily sniggered, jogging slightly to keep up with his long legs. 'The strategic way in which you are approaching this date make my heart flutter!'

He laughed and broke into a run, diving between students heading the other way who turned to watch them with surprise.

'Where are we going?' Lily spluttered through her giggles.

'You'll see!'

...

'This was your idea of the most sickeningly romantic location possible for a date?'

Lily gazed up at the shop front, shock and horror registering on her face.

'I've heard it's a rite of passage', Keegan admitted. 'But I didn't expect it to be so...'

'Pink?' Lily supplied.

The windows of Madam Puddifoot's tea shop were smeary from condensation, and gave the whole shop an atmosphere of being inside the stomach of a dragon who had just had the misfortune to have eaten seventeen pots of lurid pink paint. It was dark, and the light that did come from the many lamps dotted around was a dull salmon colour due to the many scarves and clothes draped over them.

They were lead to a table by the window that would have looked out onto the main road, had it not been covered with a translucent pink gauzy blind, by a stout woman with rigid curls that did not move as she walked. They ordered two coffees, unsure of what else to do, and sank into seats that squeaked ever so slightly as they sat down.

'This is- um...' Started Lily.

'...very pink?' Keegan answered, staring over at the table next to them where Mack McClaggen and Susanne Walkers were sat, holding hands.

A house elf appeared, carrying a tray high above his head. The two cups were deposited onto the table, and the elf departed with a bow.

'Okay', Lily said, idly fishing some glitter out of her coffee. 'Romance - Go!'

'We're not really wearing the right clothes for a truly romantic date.' Keegan pointed out. 'I've got ketchup down my shirt and you're wearing- actually, what are you wearing?'

'They're dungarees!' Lily defended, wiping a hand over the faded fabric. 'And I'll have you know that they're very comfortable.'

'You look like a builder.'

'Is that a bad thing?'

'Why would it be a bad thing?' He questioned. 'As long as you're comfortable I don't care what you're wearing. In fact-' he leant forward with a wicked grin, 'I prefer you with noth-'

'Romantic and horny are not the same things', Lily said with mock disapproval, whacking him over the knuckles with her cloth napkin. 'Try harder!'

'If poetry be the food of love, play on bagpipes, play on!' Keegan flung his arms wide, and knocked over the sugar dish. The lid came off and rolled across the table and onto the floor where it secreted itself under the radiator.

'I'm not sure that's quite how that goes', Lily snorted, righting the now lidless sugar bowl.

'Oh Lily, Lily - um, what rhymes with Lily?'

'Willy?' She suggested, managing to keep her face impassive. 'Chilli? Silly?'

'Not the most auspiciously romantic words in the English dictionary.' He said, and sniggered.

'Well it's better than your name!' She fired back. 'Keegan, beaten, creep in-'

'Hey!'

'Cretin-'

'In what world', Keegan snickered, 'Does Keegan rhyme with cretin?'

'It wasn't a rhyme, it was an adjective.' She returned, also struggling to control her giggles.

At the table next to them, Mack had moved his chair around the table and was whispering gentle nothings into Susanne's ear.

'How does someone as unpleasant as Mack turn into a romantic god?' Lily queried. They both watched his technique for a moment.

'We need to try harder', Keegan decided. 'No more slacking off for you Miss Potter. We need to work harder at being romantic!'

'How about a romantic gesture?' She suggested as behind them Mack and Susanne began to express their feelings in a highly non-verbal way.

They caught each other's eyes, and had to cover their mouths to stop the sniggers escaping.

'Romantic gestures. I can do romantic gestures.'

'Can you?' She asked, and a snort erupted from behind her hand.

'I can be very romantic when I want to', he said, feigning indignant vexation.

'You bought me a sun hat for my birthday!'

'You wanted a sun hat for your birthday!'

Again they struggled to hold back their laughs.

'We really suck at this, don't we?' She gasped out.

'I'm still trying to come up with a romantic gesture that doesn't involve, money, time or any actual effort.' He returned, taking a sip of his coffee. 'Merlin, that's revolting!'

'How about serenading me?' She suggested, a twinkle in her eye.

'You've obviously never heard me sing. Believe me! If you want to be able to hear my feeble attempts at romance, never let me near anything even remotely musical. The pain is not worth it!'

This time smothering the laughter proved too hard, and their chortles rang through the tea shop.

'Everyone's staring at us!' Lily whispered, then crossed her eyes as Susanne Walkers stared straight at her. Susanne blinked a few times, and hastily looked away.

Once they had both managed to choke back their laughter, Keegan waved his arms in the air. 'Okay, okay! Stop having fun, it's not romantic!'

'Don't look at me! I'm just sat here waiting for your grand gesture.'

Keegan gestured again, and his sleeve narrowly missed carrying away his almost full coffee cup with it.

'Don't move.' He said, and fell to his knees beside her chair.

Whatever he was going to say was lost as the tablecloth, caught beneath his knees, gave an almighty rip, and crockery, coffee cups, napkins and glitter cascaded to the floor. The noise was deafening, and echoed around the quiet tea shop.

The shocked looks on the patrons, and horrified stupor that appeared on their hostess's face was the last straw. Lily and Keegan let out a great roar of laughter, and were promptly chased from the shop by half a dozen angrily twittering house elves.

As they burst into the sunshine, they bumped into a couple heading the other way. They recognised Albus and Celia Raventhorpe who seemed equally shocked to see them running at such velocity from the shop.

Sprinting hand in hand down the street, Lily's beaming smile couldn't leave her face.

'You know', she yelled to him as they tore down the street. 'If being romantic means we can't laugh like that, then I don't want any of it!'

He swept her into his arms, and she accidentally stood on his foot, but it didn't matter. When he kissed her, that was the most romantic gesture of all.

 **...**

 **12oo hours**

 **The Three Broomsticks**

 **[Amélie and Erin]**

 **...**

Over the bar, the cuckoo clock was chiming.

Amélie could still feel the ghost of Erin's fingers brushing her cheek, and felt her ears heat up. Shy as she was, it still seemed terrifying to hang around with the popular Erin's many friends, and so now she sat quietly in the corner. Erin sensed her discomfort, and slipped her hand around Amélie's.

'Did you want to go somewhere else?' She whispered, and Amélie nodded. They collected their cloaks and bags, and Erin made their excuses.

It was nice to be walking in the warm afternoon sunshine. Hogsmeade was always beautiful, no matter the time of year, but in April and May it was usually quiet as many students took advantage of the library to prep for their exams.

It had been Erin who had dragged Amélie from the darkest corners of the library to the village, and though she had argued, she had likewise let herself be overruled easily. She knew that Erin was good for her.

They turned towards the Shrieking Shack and Amélie reached out, taking Erin's hand.

'Do you think we'll end up like our parents?' Erin asked suddenly, voicing the concern that was so often on her mind. She leant against the fence that bordered the Shrieking Shack, unable to look at her girlfriend.

She felt Amélie lean against the fence next to her.

'You know', she said softly. 'If you'd asked me that six months ago, I would have said yes. And to tell the truth, I'm still terrified I'm going to turn out like my parents. But I think we're stronger than they were, and I know you'd never walk out of your child's life like that.'

Erin unexpectedly felt tears prick her eyes, and she blinked them hastily back.

'You mean the whole world to me.' She said gruffly, and Amélie felt a lump rise in her throat.

A twig snapped behind them, and both girls turned around.

The Shrieking Shack was a common destination among the occupance of the school; among the younger years for the fear factor and the chance to show off, and among the older students for more melancholy reasons. Couples were often seen there too, despite the less than propitious setting.

'It's only Al', Erin said, shielding her eyes from the sun.

'Isn't that Amity Chang?' Amélie asked.

'Looks like it', Erin replied. 'What's going on with Al and your sister anyway?'

'I have no idea.' Amélie shrugged. 'Come on, I dare you to touch the walls of the Shrieking Shack!'

'What are we? Twelve?' Erin snorted. 'All right, you're on.'

The house was decrepit in the extreme, with broken, staring windows and crumbling brick work. The walls were surprisingly cool to touch, despite the warm sun.

'This isn't so bad', Amélie said, gazing up at the dilapidated house. 'It's rather picturesque really.'

'Yes, the door hanging off its hinges only adds to the ambiance.' Erin quipped, glancing around uneasily. 'Did you hear that?'

'You're imagining things-' Amélie started to say, but her sentence ended in a shriek as the rusty hinges screamed in protest. The door was forced open and a dark headed boy stumbled out into the sunshine.

'Albus?' Erin gasped.

'Actually', said the boy, straightening his beanie. 'I'm James.'

 **...**

 **12oo hours**

 **The Three Broomsticks**

 **[James and Lizzie]**

 **...**

Over the bar, the cuckoo clock was chiming.

James hadn't noticed his younger siblings over by the bar as he sat in the corner, nursing a pint. But as the clock chimed, her rose to his feet as though an alarm had sounded in his head.

Breaking into Hogwarts by means of the secret passageways probably wasn't the most sensible of decisions he had ever made, especially when he was on a mission to prove himself a grownup, but he couldn't help it. Impulsiveness can be a curse, as well as a boon.

He found Lizzie in her favourite corner of the library, scanning the pages of an ancient textbook with a panicked air of exhaustion. She almost fell off of her chair when she noticed him, then let her head collapse onto her parchment.

'Sit', she said, her voice slightly muffled.

He sat.

To hold a conversation about difficult topics, without anger or tears, is perhaps the final proof that adulthood has been achieved. At least, that is what James thought. To state the issue, without accusing. To dispassionately debate faults and failings, without assigning blame. They talked for at least an hour, the two of them. Talked until James felt he knew Lizzie inside out.

'I quit the bar work', James said finally, reaching out and touching her hand. She did not pull away. 'And I've got a real job. It's only a junior position, and with the ministry no less - I know, I don't think my mother can quite believe it either - but I can support you now. I can be the man you always wanted me to be.'

'Are you happy James?' She asked softly, and he nodded.

'Strangely enough, yes I am. It took your words to realise that I don't need my madcap adventures, I just want you.'

'I want to have a relationship with you', Lizzie said slowly. 'In the future, I mean. Not now, not while I'm still in school. But at some point.'

'You know I'll wait for you.' He said. 'I'll wait until you tell me to give up, and then I'll wait a bit longer.'

The sound of a dropped textbook startled them out of their intense conversation. Alice turned her head to see a large boy coming out of the Herbology section, a stack of books in his arms. Another boy, tall and serious, scooped up the dropped book and they vanished among the towering bookshelves.

'I don't know what the future will hold', she said softly, and he took his cue to leave.

 **...**

 **12oo hours**

 **The Three Broomsticks**

 **[Tommy and Alex]**

 **...**

Over the bar, the cuckoo clock was chiming.

Tommy always felt out of place in these kinds of situations. He was, but for Amélie and Trevor, the only non-Gryffindor, almost the only non-Wotter, and certainly new to this gang of friends entirely. In fact, six months ago, he would have been new to the prospect of having friends at all.

Tommy tried not to think back to six months ago.

In truth, he felt like an entirely new person, and had done since his run in with Rose Weasley all those months ago. It's one thing to feel self-loathing, but quite another to actually act upon that feeling. It taken her biting words to realise that, though he might be dreadfully unhappy, that was not an excuse. He would never have suspected, back then, that he would find himself here, sat with these particular people. But as Alex said, that was always the Wotter's problem; they were far too forgiving. Even Lucy, who was sat two seats down from him, laughing with Trevor, had forgiven him.

Gazing at Lucy's laughing face, he felt a mixture of admiration for her, and self-contempt, coupled with that inevitable surge of affection that always rose when he saw her. He remembered reading somewhere that the love of a good woman can save even the most corrupt of souls, but knew that, to inspire such love, one must be redeemable, and the woman must be truly good. Well, Lucy was one of the best people he had ever met, but he also knew he was not worthy of her.

Alex noticed Tommy's sober expression and leant forwards.

'What's up?'

'Can I have some advice?' Tommy said slowly.

Alex inclined his head, looking at his friend.

'I want to do something nice for Lucy, but I don't know what', he admitted. 'But she's been so incredible, and I want to show her how I- how I feel about her.'

Alex nodded again, and the two fourth years left the bar, heading up towards the castle. On the high street, they brushed past Albus Potter who was stood awkwardly with Amy Perry.

The walk back up to Hogwarts was pleasant in the warmth of the sunshine, and when they reached the library it was filled with the hushed silence of feverish studying. Sliding into a desk near the back of the library, they found themselves surrounded almost exclusively by seventh and fifth years, who spared them an agitated glance, before returning to their studies, noses almost touching their parchment.

Sat side by side, studying quietly, Tommy felt how strange this was. There was no need to speak, for a companionable silence had fallen between the two boys. For the first time in a great many years, Tommy felt a contentment settle into his chest. Self-awareness is a great lesson to learn, and one most-dearly bought. But sat there, with his friend, Tommy realised that, even in the highly likely event of Lucy turning him down, he would not return to his old, bullying ways.

 **...**

 **12oo hours**

 **The Three Broomsticks**

 **[Lucy and Trevor]**

 **...**

Over the bar, the cuckoo clock was chiming.

Trevor and Lucy watched as Tommy and Alex made their excuses and left the pub, before following suit. Once outside, Lucy asked where he wanted to go.

'I need to go to the post office to post a parcel.' He said, and so they set off in that direction.

Lucy had always loved the Post Office, with its rows and rows of owls, from great screech owls with staring amber eyes, to the tiny pigmy owls, no bigger than her hand. The smell was rather overpowering, but not unpleasant for the Post Office was kept much cleaner than the owlery at Hogwarts. The rustling of many wings, the tinkle of the bells of the counters, the general hustle and bustle of the counter staff was comforting, and while Trevor paid for his parcel she wandered about. The most common deliveries, local only, were nearest to the door, but in the far corner were the stoic, howler owls. These owls, Lucy knew, were specially chosen for their stoicism, and deliberately trained not to take fright at sudden explosions.

When Lucy returned to the counters to see how Trevor was getting on, she found him with his two brothers, each also clutching a brown paper parcel. Giles went slightly red at the sight of her, but Digby suffered no such embarrassment and greeted her warmly.

'It's mum's birthday tomorrow', he explained, waving the parcel in the air. 'And I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who forgot about it until last minute.'

'I actually didn't forget', Trevor said mildly, handing the witch behind the counter a handful of silver. 'But _someone_ sent Mercury to India last week and he's not back yet.'

'Mercury's our barn owl', Giles explained as Trevor took his receipt and signed the register. 'But Digby completely forgot we needed him for presents this week and wrote to his _girlfriend_ in Mumbai.'

'Javanti isn't my girlfriend, she's my pen pal.' Digby said good-naturedly, stepping up to the counter to send his own parcel.

Watching the three boys amiable teasing, she got where Trevor got his own easy-going personality from. The three brothers might rag each other, but it wasn't done with malice. They reminded Lucy of her own relationship with her sister, whom she got on with well. She found it difficult to understand the girls in her dormitory and their constant feuds with their own siblings.

'They met when we were on holiday there last year', Trevor whispered. 'He's besotted with her.'

Lucy giggled, which fortunately neither Digby or Giles heard.

'Come on', Trevor said, and took her arm. Waving goodbye to his brothers, they left the Post Office. Once outside, he lead her down the side alley that ran alongside the building and to a quiet patch of sunlight where some previous occupant had left an empty crate. Lucy flopped down onto the box, and Trevor joined her, shading his eyes as he stared up at the sky.

'Lucy', Trevor said presently, continuing to look at the sky. 'Can I try something?'

'Okay.' Lucy said.

The kiss was not the kind of kiss that leads anywhere, nor was it fast or full of passion. It was gentle, in that innocent way of first relationships, and slightly clumsy, and when they pulled back both laughed uproariously at the looks of uncertainty on the others face.

'I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing.' Trevor admitted. 'And would it be really weird if we just went back to being friends?'

Lucy laughed with relief. 'Definitely not. I think we're better friends anyway.'

'We could revisit this in a few years time?' He said, eager not to offend her, but she waved his anxieties away.

'Maybe, but not for a while.'

They wandered around Hogsmeade for a little while longer, before retracing their steps and beginning to walk back up to the school. At the entrance of the village they bumped into Albus, and a pretty blond witch whom Lucy thought was probably Martha Bobbins. Not wanting to intrude upon the seventh years, they scurried past.

That night at dinner, Lucy was about to head over to the Ravenclaw table to sit with her sister when she saw her dorm mates, and suddenly felt bad. What with the drama with Tommy, her newly emerging friendship with Trevor, the quidditch team and her family, she knew she had been neglecting her girlfriends.

She expected a snide comment when she slid in beside Letty, but they moved over easily, making room for her, and swept her along with their gossip. Mary and Violet were obviously friends again, and seemed to have forgiven Letty the ignominy of going out with a boy they found attractive. It was unusual, but it seemed that there were no quarrels between the five girls at all, rather like it had been last year before hormones invaded their dormitory.

It was pleasant to sit and chat about things of no consequence at all. Exam talk had been clearly banned, and nothing more strenuous than matching eyeliner and earrings were mentioned. Lucy wondered if she had looked down on her friends for their trivial gossip, and felt bad. But it was hard to sit uncomfortably with Ella, Violet, Bea, Mary and Letty for long, and soon she was filling them all in about everything that had happened with Trevor, suitably impressed gasps and exclamations filling the silence every time she paused for breath.

It was only once the last of pudding had faded from the golden plates, and most of the Great Hall had emptied, that Lucy excused herself from her friends and headed over to the Ravenclaw table to sit with her sister and Ruthie. Much to her surprise, she found Tommy waiting for her, Alex hovering a few feet away.

She stood and stared in shock, as he stumbled through the short speech he had obviously prepared earlier, before flushing the same colour as her hair when he presented her with a bunch of flowers held together with twine.

He does look different, she realised as she tried to come up with an answer that would not hurt his feelings. He's nervous now, but normally there's a smile on his face. I don't think I've ever seen him smile nicely like that before.

'I'm really sorry, Tommy.' She said, and she was too, for she never liked to cause anyone pain, even the former bully. 'But I can't go out with you. I just don't feel that way about you.'

Tommy looked crestfallen, but there was a resignation to his features too, as though he had never expected her to consider saying yes. The exchange hurt both of them , but each handled it with a maturity that surprised the older years who were watching.

'I understand', he said. But when she tried to return the flowers, he waved them away. 'No, I made them for you, so keep them.'

He ambled off and Alex, after shooting her a sympathetic look, followed his friend, leaving Lucy to sink into the seat next to her sister and run the velvety petals between her fingers.

'Have you ever studied floriography?' Ruthie said presently, after Lucy had sat still, without speaking, for almost five whole minutes.

'Florio- what?'

'It's the encrypted communication of secrets through flowers', she replied. 'Shall we see what he said?'

'It never ceases to amaze me', Lucy said, gently touching a blue bell. 'The things you know. Fine, decrypt my flowers.'

Ruthie leant forwards, and Molly did the same.

'Well', Ruthie said. 'Let's begin with the blue bells.'

'Humility', Molly supplied. 'Constancy, gratitude.'

'Bindweed', Ruthie continued, plucking a leaf from the bouquet. 'Uncertainty.'

'Purple hyacinths; forgiveness craved, deep unending sorrow.' Molly said.

'Yellow carnations.' Ruthie added. 'Rejection received, disappointment suffered.'

'And finally', Molly said, passing the odd assortment of flowers back to her sister with a small, sad smile. 'Cyclamen, resignation and a final goodbye.'

'This was never meant to be a love bouquet.' Lucy said, gazing down at the pretty flowers, so oddly combined.

'No. Her sister agreed. 'I think this was his way of telling you that you've changed him for the better. But that your lives have diverged from this point, and this was his farewell. Metaphorically speaking.'

 **...**

 **12oo hours**

 **The Three Broomsticks**

 **[Rose and Scorpius]**

 **...**

Over the bar, the cuckoo clock was chiming.

They existed in a kind of stasis, Rose and Scorpius. Once nothing more than friends, now teetering on the edge of _something._ But it wasn't quite tangible, and it didn't really make sense, and so they tested the boundaries. A gentle look here, the brushing of fingers there- Nothing concrete, all deniable if they were proved wrong in their suspicions. One answered questioned would have solved all their uncertainties, but a certain degree of bravery is needed to pose such a question, and for two such brave Gryffindors, each proved themselves a coward.

So they sat with Albus between them, while the pub slowly emptied around them. Their friends rose in small groups and left to enjoy the sunshine. Eventually Albus told them to leave as well, perhaps sensing their desire to be alone together. His annoyed sighs followed them as they left the pub, and Rose burst into giggles at her cousin's antics the moment the door swung closed behind them.

'Honeydukes?' Rose suggested, and Scorpius nodded his head.

They strolled along, arm in arm, enjoying the warm of the sun, and Rose turned her face towards the warm rays, bathing her tanned and freckled face with the light.

'Do you think it will be difficult to leave this place?' Scorpius asked presently, casually watching the way the sun lit up Rose's hair.

'Yes... and no.' She said. 'I'm so excited for the rest of my life, I can hardly tell you. I've got all these dreams, and a thousand adventures I want to have. But I will miss the castle, the grounds, the quidditch pitch.' She turned to look at him, and he saw the force behind her words in her expression. The intensity of her words made his mouth dry.

'And if leaving Hogwarts meant leaving you, I don't think I could bear it at all. So I'm lucky that wherever I end up, it will be near you.'

'How sentimental of you', he said, mostly to cover how touched he was by her words. 'But how do you know we won't drift apart. It's a big world out there and you'll be travelling all over, playing international quidditch while I'll be stuck here, working at St Mungo's.'

'I know we won't drift apart for the same reason you know. We need each other far too much for that. We will simply gravitate towards each other for the rest of our lives, and there's no way you can get rid of me that easily!' She added with a laugh.

He snorted too, and he paid for their purchases. They passed Albus and Meredith Trode as they left the sweet shop, and sat down on the bench just outside it.

'Do you remember that time you punched me, way back in second year?' Scorpius sniggered around a mouthful of chocolate frog. He shook that bag at her, but, as always, she refused with a grin.

'To be fair', she defended. 'That was only because you punched Sean.'

'He kissed you and stole your pudding!' Scorpius said. 'I was trying to be a good friend.'

'No', she sniggered. 'You were showing off. And you didn't believe I could have dealt with it.'

'So you punched me to prove that girl's can hit every bit as hard as boys.'

'It worked didn't it?'

'You gave me a black eye!'

'It made you look debonair', she returned, smiling at the memory. 'I remember Celia Raventhorpe telling me that you looked very handsome.'

'Oh yes', Scorpius said with sarcasm. 'A scrawny twelve year old with an unfortunate proclivity for hair gel, with a black eye given to him by his four-foot-nothing friend.'

'It landed you your first kiss, didn't it?'

'And what an unpleasant experience it was.' He shuddered. 'Way too much saliva, and neither of us had any idea what to do.'

'And speaking of Celia - isn't that Al over there with Cecelia?'

Scorpius squinted into the bright sunshine.

'I thought he was with Trode only a few minutes ago?'

Rose scanned the street. 'Look- she's storming off over there. I can see my cousin has used his usual tact and diplomacy.'

'Is that Amity Chang?' Scorpius nodded to where Albus was now stood with Cecelia and a tall girl with dark hair.

'I think so. What on earth is he up to?'

Scorpius finished his chocolate card, and turned over the card. 'Damn, I've got your dad again. Do you want it?'

'I have the debatable pleasure of having the real one at home', Rose answered. 'Bit of a tosser really. Do you want to follow Albus and see what he's up to?'

'We're not playing hitwizards again are we?' Scorpius groaned. 'After that time when I accidentally broke your nose, I thought we'd agreed to stop playing that stupid game.'

'Oh come on grumpy, it'll be fun!'

'Fine.' He groused, but stood up anyway. 'But only because it's you.'

 **...**

 **12oo hours**

 **The Three Broomsticks**

 **[Albus and Cecelia]**

 **...**

Over the bar, the cuckoo clock was chiming.

Albus had finally sent Rose and Scorpius off to do couple stuff when he had watched his cousin pretend to drop her spoon so Scorpius could pick it up, and pass it back to her with a longing look that nobody in the entire pub could have missed. It was terrible. He had always felt like the third wheel over the years all three had been friends. At first it had been due to the all encompassing nature of their friendship, a friendship that needed no-one but each other. And then he had to watch while Scorpius trailed around after his cousin with soppy puppy eyes, which, while hysterical, was also vaguely annoying. Now, well, everyone could see how crazy they were about each other, so it was only a matter of time until his third wheel status was official. With his best friend off dating his little sister, and the whole house still not really talking to Mack, that only left Sean. He was nice, but he was also permanently joined at the hip with Dinah.

Albus wanted a relationship. His infatuation with Lizzie had served to make him seem unattainable to the other girls of Hogwarts, the ones who might have approached him. Now, it was too late.

He glanced over at the bar, and saw Cecelia perched on a barstool, waving her arms about as she spoke to the girl next to her. The girl snorted with laughter, then left the pub, leaving Cecelia alone at the bar. She took a sip of her gillywater, and Albus made up his mind.

Plopping down into the seat next to her, he took in her pretty face, the sardonic twist to her smile, and felt something in the region of his stomach lurch.

'Abandoned too, huh?' She said.

'It is official', he said. 'I am the ultimate third wheel. Or eleventh wheel in this case.'

'Poor baby', she crooned mockingly. 'It must be so difficult for you. Head Boy, perfect family and grades, scores of friends.'

'Mock all you like', he retorted. 'But you're the one sat with me so what does that make you?'

'About to leave?' She gestured towards the door and rose slightly from her seat, but with a laugh he pulled her back.

'No, don't go. At least with you here I can pretend to have some semblance of a romantic life.'

'Ahh', she said. 'This is because you don't have a date. How pathetic.'

'I freely admit that I'm pretty pathetic', he said with a smile.

'Fine.' She said, and jumped to her feet. 'Come on, I'm going to get you a date, even if it's the last thing I do.'

'That sounds vaguely threatening.' He said, and she rapped him of the knuckles.

'Come on.'

It was vaguely humiliating, following Cecelia around Hogsmeade like an obedient dog while she played wingman to the fullest extent. At the Shrieking Shack he found himself exchanging pleasantries with Amity Chang who was sweet, but had very little to say to him that did not revolve around the upcoming N.E.W.T.s. At the entrance to Hogsmeade, they passed Alex and Tommy who had obviously had enough of the village, and by the time he had finished talking to Amy Perry who thoroughly chewed him up for hitting on a girl with a boyfriend, he wished he could leave as well.

At the Post Office he waved to his little cousin Lucy, and debated owl slavery with Martha Bobbins, then made his excuses and fled back to where Cecelia was casually stood on the other side of the street, sniggering at his every attempt to free himself from her overzealous pleas for Wotter backing in her campaign. There was Meredith Trode outside the sweetshop, but as she was with her boyfriend it was a little difficult to ask her out, especially as Rose and Scorpius's less than subtle laughter at his expense made it hard to focus on wooing.

Eventually Cecelia took pity on him and introduced him to her friend Celia Raventhorpe, who happened to be passing. Albus didn't know what passed between them, but Celia through Albus a dazzling smile, and frogmarched him off to Madam Puddifoot's where they found havoc, and the retreating backs of the two perpetrators.

It was stifling inside the tea shop, but Celia seemed at home as she order a coffee with a complicated sounding name, and he played it safe and went for tea.

It might have been awkward, but Celia was a pro at negotiating awkward small talk, and when the subjects of gossip, quidditch and N.E.W.T.s were exhausted, he asked her how she had gotten so good at social niceties.

'A Strict pureblood upbringing', she replied. 'I've been going to formal events since I was five years old. I had to be quiet and sweet, or my nanny locked me in my room.'

'Seriously?'

'A lot of pureblood families are very strict when it comes to that kind of thing', she said, with an air of blasé disinterest. 'Scorpius was pretty lucky, his dad was abused by his grandparents so I don't think they ever punished Scorpius like that.'

'I always forget you knew Scorpius before Hogwarts', Albus said, taking a sip of his tea.

'I know you think us dinosaurs', she laughed. 'But we are an archaic society, and so it seems normal for us. It's just like how, though this is fun, I can't let it go any further.'

'I- What?' Albus stared at her.

'Well I'm engaged.' She said. 'And while I'm allowed flings, I get the feeling you don't want that.'

'Engaged?' He stuttered. 'But you're my age!'

'It was arranged when I was a baby', she admitted. 'And I've never met him. But my parents decided he was a good match, so there we are.'

'Do you know anything about him?' Al asked, trying to mask his own feelings on the matter.

'Only that he is a number of years older than myself, and that he is very, _very_ rich.'

Through the smeary windows, a little of the street beyond was visible. Cecelia was just visible through the glass, sat on a bench with her nose in a book.

'Is there anything I can do to help?' He asked.

'We could elope', she said with a laugh, but he lent forward seriously.

'We could do that.'

She laughed so hard that her coffee cup, fortunately empty, rolled across the table.

'Oh Merlin, you're serious!' Perhaps he saw the glances he was sneaking out of the window, for she become sombre and serious. 'I am resigned to my fate.' She said. 'And this match will save my parents fortunes which are, sadly, on the decline. It's my duty, and one I am willing to perform.'

They pondered such antiquated notions for a while, each with their own thoughts upon the matter.

'You can't save everyone', Celia said, watching Al's honest face. 'But if you're really serious about Cecelia, you're going to have to fight for her. And she's not going to make it easy.'

Albus looked down at the tablecloth, barely registering it.

'How do you know I-'

'Oh', she waved a hand generally. 'It's obvious. You might be here with me, but your eyes are on her. It's gravity, and it pulls you to her.'

He nodded slowly. 'I wish there was something I could do for you though.'

'Let me enjoy my freedom for a little longer.' She said. 'I want nothing more.'

They shook hands outside the tea shop, perhaps the most platonic goodbye that place had ever seen, and Celia began to walk down the main street to catch up with her friends. Albus went to go and sit down beside Cecelia.

'So I've been thinking', he said.

'A dangerous pass time.' She replied, marking her page, and closing her book.

'I know', he laughed. 'But let me finish. I was thinking that you should go out with me.'

'And I think that's a terrible idea.' She said, standing to leave.

He caught her arm, but gently so she could pull away at any moment.

'I'm not going to stop fighting for you.' He said, his features utterly serious. 'No matter what. No matter how scared you are. We're like gravity, and we'll always end up right here, next to each other.'

He turned, and followed Celia's steps back into Hogsmeade, leaving her standing there in the late afternoon sunshine, a small smile on her face. Then she, too, moved to follow him.

* * *

A/N.

A bit of a mammoth chapter, and I'm sorry this didn't get updated on Sunday - I've been incredibly busy this week and it wasn't finished in time. I know it's a bit wordy, but I wanted to round up everyone else's stories so I can dedicate the whole of the next chapter to the real reason we are all here: Scorpius and Rose. Hence this is the final hurdle for all their friends and team mates. Never fear though, they will all appear over the last little bit of this story though!

Also, I needed to upload this in a bit of a hurry so I haven't had chance to beta this - I apologise! Shoddy workmanship should never be allowed, but I thought you'd rather have this now, rather than in three weeks time.

The finale left to come, and then a short epilogue, and then we are done. How sad I shall be! And I shall take this opportunity to beg forgiveness, but those chapters won't be up next Sunday, or even maybe the Sunday after as I am out of the country. Many apologies!

Thanks for sticking with this tale for so long - I would never have gotten this far without your encouragement!

A.A.A.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty

 **1st May**

 **The Quidditch Pitch**

 **11oo hours**

 **[Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw]**

...

It was as though Rose was watching the match through the eyes of a stranger, perched thousands of feet above the pitch, part of the clouds. If she couldn't feel the scream of her muscles, the roar of the wind whipping her hair from its tight braid, the burn of the hot sun on her face; hear the screams and boos of the crowd, the snatches of commentary, the shouts of the players, she might not have been there at all. For the match that meant so much to her, she felt strangely disjointed. She could have been nothing more than an onlooker, idly kicking their heels as they peered down to the pitch, so far below.

Her body worked on autopilot, her mouth yelling instructions as needed, her brain calculating every angle, every attack. A bludger whistled behind her, and she dropped several feet into its trajectory. She swung hard, feeling the recoil reverberating all the way up her arm into her swollen shoulder - the result of an earlier foul by Juliana Corner. The bludger ricocheted away and Melissa Stretton dropped the quaffle into Lily's waiting arms. Melissa stuck up a finger at Rose, scowling ferociously, before zooming down the pitch in hot pursuit of the quaffle.

'Gryffindor pull ahead with a lovely goal from Oxley', Alfie shouted, his voice magically amplified to reach the players over the roar of the crowd.

'Lucky shot', Jessica groused. 'Keeper Inglebee would have saved it if he hadn't had two bludgers on him.'

'Don't be a sore loser, babe!' Alfie crowed as Erin took a quick lap of honour, one hand raised in a fist. 'Just because Gryffindor is wiping your house's soggy arses on the field today- _Ouch!'_

'Miss Reading! Put Mr Jordan down this instant!'

A crash, and a sulky _'Sorry Professor',_ and Alfie was once more cognoscente.

'Power twins Goldstein and Goldstein are really putting the Gryffindor chasers through their paces, forcing them to break up some of their best moves.' Alfie yelled as Ruby and Roger both sent bludgers careering into the centre of the triangular formation Lily, Keegan and Erin had formed. Keegan took the hit, allowing Lily to wriggle out of the blockage and score Gryffindor's twelfth goal of the match.

The bludger had only winged him, but Rose sent a bludger down the pitch anyway. It smashed through the twigs of Roger's Nimbus like so much butter. He jerked sideways, his broom spinning out of control, and Ruby dropped her bat as she flew to her twin's rescue, pulling him onto her broom.

Davies signalled to Coach Hendrix for time-out but he ignored him, blowing his whistle as Melissa shot into the scoring zone without the quaffle.

'Are you okay?' Rose yelled to Keegan, dropping out of the sky to hover next to him.

He grimaced and flexed his shoulder. 'Not broken, but I'll have a killer bruise tomorrow.'

'Filthy disgusting foul!' Jessica was screaming into the megaphone.

'Beautiful bludger work by Gryffindor Captain!' Alfie bellowed over his girlfriend's swearing.

'You bloody tosser!' Jessica made a very rude gesture at Coach Hendrix as he flew past which fortunately he didn't see. 'Biased scummy Ravenclaw-hating-'

Alfie had managed to wrestle the megaphone away from her as Rose flew up to Hendrix and called for time-out.

The whistle sounded, and thirteen brooms hit the grass.

'What's going on?' Scorpius, who had been circling thirty feet above the action, jogged over.

'Giving Ravenclaw time to regroup.' Rose nodded to where a replacement was being brought on for Roger by one of the reserves.

'You're kidding me?' Erin spluttered. 'That was a beautiful hit, and definitely not a foul. If Goldstein couldn't get out of the way that's his own fault-'

Rose grinned. 'Calm down Oxley, your blood's going at the moment.'

She glanced across the pitch to where Davies was huddled with his team. He nodded at her once - high praise indeed - and Rose slung her arm around Erin's shoulders.

'I wanted to give Ravenclaw a fighting chance. It wouldn't be honourable to make them play a man down.'

'You and your bloody sense of honour', Coach Hendrix moaned from behind them. 'The ruddy commentator's accusing me of favouritism now.'

 _'Prejudiced old bat-'_

'Jessica is just very passionate about quidditch', Rose grinned. 'She doesn't really mean it-'

 _'Let me at the bugger, I'll teach him what a bludger foul is!'_

'You sure about that?' Hendrix said with a sigh.

'And to be fair', Rose continued, scraping back her hair. 'You do favour Gryffindor.'

'Bollocks', he said. 'I hate all of you equally. Read to hit the air again?'

Rose glanced over at the Ravenclaws and Davies nodded.

'Yes. Let's go.'

The crowd that had been whispering restlessly during the interlude rose to their feet, stamping and cheering as both teams shot back into the sky.

'And we're back', Alfie yelled. 'Gryffindor Captain heroically stops playing advantage to Gryffindor in the name of sportsmanship. Isn't she a saint?'

Rose sent a bludger skimming so close to the commentator's box that Alfie felt a breeze ruffle his dreadlocks.

'Only kidding folks - she's an ogre! Gryffindor lead one-hundred-and-twenty points to forty, and as we come up on the two hour mark the players are getting tired.'

It was true. Rose was easily the fittest player on the pitch, and she could feel her thigh muscles trembling with every swing she took. She could see the strain on Lucy's face and in the way her bat hung at her side when not in use.

Davies broke through the Gryffindor's defence with a back pass to Juliana who rose fast, avoiding Lucy's bludger. Rose was about to tear after the speeding ball when she spotted the Goldstein twins rising fast, keeping the other bludger volleying between them. Twenty feet above them, Scorpius and Johnny Masters were circling, scanning the pitch like hawks for any trace of the golden snitch.

A cheer from the blue and bronze supports as Davies dodged Lily's tackle and sent Keegan spinning into the goal posts.

'Just the keeper to beat, but with the speed Davies is going at, it'll be a miracle if Simpson saves this', Jessica warbled with glee.

'Take out the seeker', Inglebee bellowed from the Ravenclaw posts, but his words were lost in the crowd and the commentary.

'What's Scary Weasley doing?' Alfie howled. 'If we ever need a bludger from her, it's now!'

The oddest feeling, but Rose was suddenly so far above the game that she could see every player, the ants that were the crowds. She felt as though she was perched on one of the fluffy white clouds, casually dangling her legs over the edge as she peered down. The game seemed to freeze beneath her. Even the crowd seemed suddenly struck dumb, as though someone had turned down the volume on a radio until only static remained.

From this vantage point Rose could see everything. Arrows were wiggling across her vision, calculating the angle, working out the speed and the distance. She could stop Davies from scoring and then, isolated as he was far out on the left wing, Lily would be there to seize the quaffle. With Keegan flying below her as protection, her path to the posts was unimpeded. A textbook situation. She could get to Lucy's failed bludger in less than a second. One crack, that was all that was needed.

Rose was not fool, and she knew perfectly well that Davies wanted to win every bit as much as she did. He knew her weaknesses, just as she knew his. It was obvious, tactically, that he had set up this choice. It was what she would have done in his position. Protect the interest of the team - Or Scorpius.

But Rose had noticed something that Davies could not have. The incremental tightening of Scorpius's knuckles, the bunching of his thigh muscles beneath his robes. So subtle. No-one but her would ever have noticed his tells. And it was only because she knew him, every inch of him, as well as she knew every inch of herself, that she swung her broomstick around and rocketed upwards.

Just as Davies scored, just as Ruby and Roger hit the bludger together with a crack that echoed around the stadium, just as Scorpius dived.

There was no time to use her bat, no time to plan. Instead she flung herself into the path of the speeding bludger and felt it shatter her shoulder as Scorpius snatched the glimmering golden snitch out of the air, holding it above his head in triumph.

Strangely enough, it was Keegan, and not Rose, who burst into tears.

...

Never had holding the shining cup aloft, surrounded by her screaming team, meant so much to Rose. Nor had it hurt so much.

Over the years Rose had landed herself in St Mungo's twice, and the hospital wing more times than she cared to remember, all due to quidditch. She had once played on for over an hour, blind in one eye - the product of a partial concussion from an ill-advised scrimmage over a bludger with two members of the Russian underage national squad. She struggled to think of a single bone in her body that hadn't been broken from falls or misjudging bludgers. It was part of the sport, and the price you paid for being the best. Getting injured meant you were riding hard, and it didn't matter how many times you fell as long as you got back on the broom.

So she ignored the stabbing pain in her shoulder, the way her left arm hung uselessly at her side, bent out to the right in the way that no arm should. Shock would kick in soon, numbing the throbbing. Madam Patil was already fighting her way through the scarlet and gold crowds flooding onto the pitch.

Six red and gold blurs descended upon her, reaching up to support the weight of the cup. Rose let her trembling but uninjured arm drop to her side as Keegan and Alex hoisted Lucy into their shoulders, and Lily passed their youngest team member the silver cup. Lucy held it above her head, letting out a yell of triumph.

'Rose! Congratulations!' Dinah, Lisa, Jenny and Karen were tearing onto the pitch, Sean and Albus bringing up the rear.

They surrounded the team, chanting and singing, but Rose seized Lily's hand, and dragged her team forward.

'You did it Rose', Lucy squeaked, still on Alex's shoulders.

'No', Rose said, even as Madam Patil finally forced her way through the crowds and began resetting her arm. 'We did this. You guys have made this year mean everything to me, and I want to thank you- _ouch!-_ for teaching me so much about myself as a person. We've proved ourselves a team to be reckoned with - _shit!-_ and I am honoured to have been able to work with you.'

Her speech was interrupted, or perhaps punctuated, with her muffled exclamations of pain as Madam Patil, with a series of eye-watering cracks, reset her shattered bones and expanded the concave dent in her clavicle where the bludger indentation was still visible. Instantly her breathing became easier as the pressure was removed from her lungs, and the roaring agony became a dull throb.

Rose finally unclenched her teeth and hesitantly straightened out her arm. There was a twinge, but nothing she couldn't manage. Smiling, she returned to her team, after a word of thanks to the matron, and the promise of a visit to the hospital wing for pain potions they both knew she had no interest in keeping. Madam Patil however, like most of the staff, let her be. You couldn't really apply the usual rules to Rose Weasley.

'I also want to say how proud I am to pass succession of the captaincy onto my cousin Lily. I know it's supposed to be a secret until next year, but I wanted to tell you all in person, because I am so delighted by the Coach's choice.'

'Me?' Lily said, 'But I'm not-'

'You are going to be the best captain this team has ever seen, and our esteemed coach, in his right mind for once it seems, agrees.'

'What was that Weasley?'

Rose spun on her heel and saw Coach Hendrix and Rhoda Mantis stood behind her. Hendrix was wearing his usual sardonic scowl, but Rose knew he was all snark, and no fangs.

'Just passing on some good news.' She said sweetly, and slung an arm around her cousin.

Hendrix harrumphed, but Rose could tell he didn't really mind.

'Miss Weasley, excellent game.' Mantis said, stepping forward and putting out her hand. Rose grasped it.

'Thanks.'

'Furthermore', Mantis continued as they attempted to break each other's fingers, 'I would like to offer you a position on the reserve Falmouth Falcon's Inter-league quidditch team, and the possibility of joining the first string team for the new season after a summer of rigorous training.'

Mantis took in Rose's face, which had frozen in shock.

'Can I take it you intend to accept the offer?'

'I- Yes! Yes of course, thank you so much-'

'The summer training camp will be exhausting, both mentally and physically.' Mantis continued with playful smile. 'I've heard that the Russian underage team actually dropped out due to exhaustion.'

'Well', Rose said, recovering her voice. 'I never thought very much of the Russian junior team. They cried when we had to do suicide runs in three feet of snow.'

'Bunch of wimps.' Mantis agreed.

They were about to part, when Mantis leant forwards.

'I'm glad it was you who won.' She said, too softly for the others to hear over the noise of the crowd. 'I fought my way up through a male-dominated sport too. I think you'll be a wonderful role-model to encourage more girls into quidditch.'

She stepped back and they shook hands once more, but this time without the bone-crushing grip.

'I look forward to working with you, Rose Weasley.' She said, before turning and walking away.

...

'Oi, Weasley.'

Rose, Hugo, Lucy and Molly all turned around to see Findley stumping across the pitch towards them, a pair of binoculars hung around his neck.

'Sorry, Rose.' He corrected with his crooked smile, and Rose obligingly took a few steps forwards, meeting him half way.

'Great game. Really excellent tactical move at the end. How's the shoulder?'

'Bit sore.' Rose pulled aside her robes to reveal a bruise the size of the bludger that had caused it erupting in blues and purples across her shoulder and chest.

'Ouch.' He said, impressed.

'I've had better.' She said, tugging her quidditch robes back up. 'But quidditch injuries are like trophies. The more you have, the harder you're playing.'

He opened his mouth to say something else, but on seeing her inquiring face, he closed it again. A second of quiet, and then he tried again.

'So I never told you this', he said, shrugging his shoulders slightly. 'But I'm not really a groundskeeper. I actually work for the Wimbourne Wasps as a talent spotter, strictly middle league of course, and very junior with that, but I came here to spy out the next big thing, which is you.'

'Duh.' Rose said.

'I know this is probably a surprise- Wait, what?'

'Well it was really obvious.' She said, trying and failing to keep some smugness out of her voice. 'I mean you bought all your little listening charms from _my_ brother for a start.'

'Your brother?' Findley looked aghast. 'But the Underground is a massive network that runs all over the UK.'

'I- what? Hugo- get your ass over here right now!'

Her brother ambled over, his hands in his pockets. Away from his towering shelves, and darkly lit office, he looked less like Mephistopheles, and more like an ordinary fifteen year old boy. Somewhat gangly, with a face so freckled you could barely see the skin beneath. Bad posture, and a splatter of acne. Her baby brother, whom people, and especially clients, always underestimated.

'I run the Hogwartian Underground Recreational club.' He said. 'Nothing more. Well, not really. I have a few fingers in pies.'

Rose's mouth had fallen open. 'But how?'

'Better you don't know, sister mine.' He said with a smile. He reached over, and gave her kiss on the cheek. 'Congratulations on the match.'

Findley and Rose watched him amble away, his carrot coloured hair glinting in the sunshine. He vanished into the crowd as remotely as if he had just apparated.

'You do realise he just admitted to running one of the biggest black markets of all time.' Findley said, raising his eyebrows.

'Actually', Rose said beginning to smile. 'I think you'll find he didn't.'

They stood for a moment more, then Findley shook his head in disbelief once, and turned back to Rose.

'You know I would never have had to search your office if you hadn't found all my listening devices. I had to get ministry clearance to get through some of your wards. You are one very sneaky women.'

Rose was honestly flattered.

'Mind you', she said. 'You do work for a rival team now. I'm not sure I should be associating with you anymore.'

'Now where would the fun in that be?' He grinned. 'Anyway, you've got dirt on me, so it's not like I can do anything to you. I don't think my boss, and the ministry for that matter, would be that thrilled to hear I've broken privacy act by buying illegal listening charms from a notorious black market worker.'

'Why did you do that?' Rose queried.

'I needed an inside edge.' He admitted. 'My boss offered me a big promotion if I could work out who the Falcon's were hoping to win, and poach them for the Wasps.'

'Then let me offer you a piece of advice', Rose said, putting out her hand. 'As one friendly rival to another.'

He took her hand and shook it. 'And what might that be.'

'Offer the position to Marco Ives, the Hufflepuff captain. Believe me, you won't regret it.'

She stepped back and shouldered her broomstick. He touched two fingers to his forehead in an approximation of a mocking salute.

'Aye captain. Here's hoping to see you again.'

'Oh you will.' Rose said with the ghost of her old, terrifying smile returning to her lips. 'I'll be up there in lights.'

...

It was in the very centre of the pitch that Rose and Scorpius finally found each other. Behind them, the team was still holding the cup aloft, the sunlight hitting the silver. Much of Gryffindor house, as well as some of the staff, were still milling about the pitch. The screaming and yelling seemed to fade as they gazed at each other.

'You took a bludger for me.' He said quietly, reaching up and wiping a smear of mud from her cheek.

'Of course I did, you numpty.' She answered, idly passing her broomstick from hand to hand. 'You were far too important to the match for you to be injured.'

'Was that the only reason?' He said, taking a step closer to her.

Rose had to look up to meet his gaze, and once again she found herself wondering how, for two such tall, skinny people, they fit together so well. Like jigsaw pieces, like they'd been designed to fit together. Or maybe it was just coincidence, and it meant nothing at all in the grand scheme of things. In this moment though, it was hard not to see some expansive cosmic design, magnetically drawing them together.

'No.' She whispered, taking a small step forward as well.

They'd teetered on the edge of this so many times. And every time Rose had allowed her insecurities, her fears, her ambitions to force her back. And all those times she thought she could jump, she found herself instead clinging to the cliff face, desperately scrabbling back to safer ground. For someone who was so fearless in the air, she was a coward when it came to the things that really mattered.

His overlong hair was hanging over his forehead as he tilted his head down to look at her, and she reached up a muddy hand, smoothing it back. His eyes closed momentarily at her touch, surprised at the gentleness of her calloused fingers.

'Are you coming to the party?' He murmured, still feeling the echo of her fingertips dusting across his skin.

'Not yet.' She replied, and he opened his eyes to see her watching him, her too-large blue eyes sombre in her sweaty not-beautiful face. There was something so serious about the set of her jaw, and the furrow between her brows. He wanted to reach out his thumb and smooth away the crease. The euphoric joy as all her dreams came true seemed to have left her for the moment, and he wondered why.

'Why not?' He asked.

Her eyes dropped back to her hand which was idly scraping some mud from the handle of her broomstick. He saw her throat move as she swallowed nervously, then she looked back up, meeting his gaze again.

'Because there's something I need to do before.' Rose found herself saying. 'Something I need to remember for the rest of my life.'

And, somehow, seizing her fleeting courage in both hands, she was reaching up, sliding her arms about her best friend's shoulders. Her broomstick slipped from between her hands to fall, forgotten, in the mud as she pressed her lips against his.

His breath was cool, and his lips so soft, but his arms when they encircled her were strong and Rose, who had never felt like she needed anyone but herself, who had always thought she worked best alone, clung to him as his mouth devoured hers. It was sweaty, and muddy, and so utterly perfect that the noise of the crowd was lost, and it felt as though there was nothing left in the world but themselves.

A shrill wolf-whistle broke through their fevered kiss and they broke apart, breathing hard.

They were surrounded by their teammates, their friends from all four houses, all seven years. Coach Hendrix was stood with Findley a way back, his usual sarcastic expression slipping for the slightest of moments.

'Bloody hormonal teenagers.' She could have sworn he'd muttered, but there was a small smile on his face non-the-less.

Her brother was there, and Molly and Ruthie, leaping about like the first years they were. Lucy, with Trevor, Alex and Tommy, Erin and Amélie stood hand in hand. Keegan, with his arms wrapped around Lily.

Rose has spent her life waiting for her real life to start, for her quidditch career, to truly be herself. Now though, as she gazed around her friends, she felt such a genuine warmth settle inside her that she couldn't help the smile that parted her lips. After so long, she truly felt home.

'I take it you two aren't coming with us to the party?' Albus said, then winced when Cecelia elbowed him in the gut.

Rose couldn't drag her eyes away from Scorpius's face, the crooked smile, the way the light was shining bright in his grey eyes, and he was equally transfixed by her. He reached up, smoothing a wayward curl from where it was trapped in the dried mud on her face.

'No', she whispered, as Scorpius bent down to kiss her again. 'But we'll meet you there.'

...

FIN

...

 **A/N.**

 **Finite.**

 **I can't believe how long this has been since I last updated, and I am so sorry about the wait. A lot has happened in the last two months, and I cannot apologise enough, especially when this was the very last chapter!**

 **Last chapter was the final culmination of all the other characters, but I wanted to dedicate this chapter entire to Rose, because really this is her story. I hope you've enjoyed watching her grow into an adult. I know I have.**

 **I am going to be writing a brief epilogue detailing the 18 months later for each of the members of the quidditch team, but if there are other characters you want to know about, drop me a review, and I'll reveal all.**

 **That only leaves me to say:** _ **THANK YOU!**_

 **Thank you to all of you for sticking with me throughout this story, thank you for the people who have subscribed, and clicked favourite, and thank you to those who have reviewed.**

 **A special thank you to** _ **Gandalf537**_ **who has been there every step of the way. Your reviews have meant everything to be, and helped me to keep going with this rather mammoth story.**

 **I guess that's everything there is to say.**

 **Yours very truly**

 **A.A.A.**


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